Old Monterey District Blog

At Pacific Bowls and Rolls, we appreciate the work of essential service providers - everyone from the police and health care workers to our local grocers! During the Monterey County shelter-in-place order, we're offering all essential service providers a deal of "buy one get one 50% off" for our poke bowls or sushi rolls.

Just get your team together, phone in your order to 831-583-8433, and let us know whether you prefer pick-up or delivery. View our menu here. Pacific Bowls and Rolls is located at 475 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey.

Even though Alvarado Street Brewery and Grill is temporarily shut down, feel free to give us some love via our online store! We have plenty of merchandise, gift cards, etc. on there to cheer you up. It's also a welcome way for you to support our business until we open the doors again. Visit our website to check it out.

Alvarado Street Brewery and Grill is located at 426 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey.

For the health and safety of our clients, we are following the County of Monterey order to shelter-in-place and closed our doors at March 17th 2020

Beauty services cannot be provided at the recommended 6’ Social Distancing protocols ordered by the WHO and the CDC.

Our Studio will resume regular hours once the order has lifted.

We are available at (831)998-9494 to answer scheduling and other questions. Please do not hesitate to call or text if you need assistance.

Please stay safe and healthy.
Respectfully, Mariam Shatilova Founder of Principal Beauty

The following is an excerpt from a "Shelter in Place FAQ" document published by Monterey County's Health Department on March 17, 2020. Click here to read the full document.

What to do
Effective midnight, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Health Officer of Monterey County is requiring people to stay home except for essential needs. The intent of this order is to ensure the maximum number of people self-isolate in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible.

Vulnerable populations including the elderly and those with underlying health conditions must stay home. All community members should stay home except to perform essential duties for business continuity or government functions, to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or perform activities related to maintaining a healthy lifestyle during this time.

It is OK to go outside for walks if you are not in a group and practice proper social distancing.

This order is in effect until Midnight, April 8, 2020. It may be extended depending on recommendations from public health officials.

Why are we doing this?
This is a critical intervention to reduce harm from the spread of the coronavirus in our community. This is a mandatory order enforceable by a fine or jail.

Now is the time to do everything we can to prevent the situation from getting much worse in a matter of days or weeks. Every hour counts. We need and appreciate the cooperation of everyone who lives and works in Monterey County to act immediately.

While this news may feel alarming, it is a necessary step to prevent a worsening situation. The patterns of the virus around the world, and in our own state, tell us that moving right now to maximize social distancing and restrict people gathering is the best way to fight the virus and save lives.

What can I do? What's open?
These essential services will remain open:
**City/County government services: Police/Sheriff stations, fire stations, hospitals/clinics and healthcare operations, jails, garbage/sanitation, transportation, utilities (water, power and gas) and most offices
**Gas stations
**Pharmacies
**Food: Grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants
**Hardware stores/plumbers/ electricians and those who provide services necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences
**Banks
**Community benefit organizations on a case-by-case basis
**Laundromats/laundry services
**Cemeteries

What's closed?
**Dine-in restaurants
**Bars and nightclubs
**Entertainment venues
**Gyms and fitness studios

What can'...Read More

As reported by Monterey County Weekly journalist Mary Duan on Twitter:

As of 12:01am on March 18, 2020, Monterey County residents are ordered to shelter at place of residence except to receive or provide essential services or work for essential services. All government non-essential operations are to cease. All gatherings and non essential travel to cease.

Data shows rate of increase is exponential and although only two cases, if we don’t act now we can see ourselves in same situation as Santa Clara County. Order effective until 11:59pm on April 7.

Certain services will remain open, including police and fire, hospitals, jails, garbage, utilities, gas stations, groceries, food banks, take out and delivery restaurants. No dinner parties, no friends over, no manicures or pedicures, no shopping, no taking trips on public transit unless necessary. This order is enforceable by local law enforcement.

Patients should not delay seeking necessary healthcare. The order allows for online delivery services like from grocery stores. Taxis can be used and ride share can be used all only for essential services.

Grocery stores will remain open so people can travel to purchase necessary items. Some people want to know if they can leave homes to provide care to fam or loved ones, answer is yes. But please stay out of hospitals and skilled nursing centers. Each facility has to determine its own visitor policies.

The order allows people to leave homes to take a walk, walk the dog, jog or hike. Moreno’s order will be posted online this afternoon.

This is a move to decrease spread and decrease cases, Moreno says. Implementing these orders is not going to prevent further cases, but by locking down now, we can spread out the number of cases over a longer time and if we can do that, it will reduce overload on hospitals and healthcare providers. No large surge of patients because of it.

Monterey County Weekly and their journalists are doing a fantastic job of covering developments regarding COVID-19 in Monterey County. Please visit their website and consider contributing to support their work.

Friends...It’s a wild time right now. Everything is changing quickly and it’s easy to give into panic and anxiety. At Alta Bakery and Cafe we've been focusing on safety, communicating clearly and often, listening to and following the advice of medical professionals and health leaders, and re-centering ourselves when all of the news makes us feel out of control.

More than a week ago, we began to take extra precautions in the bakery to ensure we were doing everything we could (above and beyond our already thorough practices) to keep our dining and working environments safe in the face of this new challenge. We are continuing to enhance and add to those practices as more information comes to light. We're overwhelmed with pride and gratitude for our team, who have taken these increased practices so seriously.

It’s MOST important that folks stay calm and take care of themselves and others right now. For those who feel 100% healthy, know that we are here to ease the burden of your anxiety with some delicious food and some kindness.

It is the goal of every one of us to be there for the community, and work for you with clean and safe practices. If you’re at 100% health, please remember to support the small businesses of your city. If not, we hope you recover soon.

As per usual, all our items can be taken out, so come on by to grab and go! We're located in the Cooper Molera Adobe at 502 Munras Avenue in Downtown Old Monterey.

Ben Spungin
Chef and Partner
Alta Bakery and Cafe

During these challenging times, Spa on the Plaza wants to assure you that we are following CDC and WHO guidelines and it is our highest priority to keep both our employees and guests safe.

We have introducing enhanced cleaning procedures, and are increasing the number of wipes, hand sanitizers, and other cleaning materials available throughout the spa. All services are disinfected between surfaces and, of course, all linens freshly laundered. We will continue to monitor and adjust our protocols as necessary.

Spa on the Plaza is a safe place to visit with minimal contact, in a peaceful, clean environment. We will be announcing some specials to support your mental and physical health during these trying times. We're located at 201 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey.

Please note update at end of post. Om Studios in Monterey wants to let you know the new policies we are temporarily putting into place given the situation with the coronavirus in our community as a whole. As the circumstances around this virus continue to evolve, we want to continue to evolve our practices.

While we're utterly confident in our cleaning practices, the following additions to our practices will help mitigate concern. Whatever we can do to support steadiness and ease, well, it's our mission, isn't it? Beginning immediately we will:

* Remove all soft props ( blankets, bolsters and straps)
* No longer be offering hands-on assists
* Limit any radical breathing practices or any pranayamas that require touching your face
* No longer offer rental mats - please bring your own mat to yoga and barre.
* Limit yoga classes to 15 students - please sign up in advance and respect our updated cancellation policy (2 hours for yoga and 12 hours for pilates)
* Limit barre classes to 10 students

We will be offering a modified schedule starting Monday, March 16, 2020. Some Monterey classes will be canceled until the end of the month. Please refer to our live schedule on our website. Om Studios is located at 631 Cass Street in Downtown Old Monterey.

An update from Om Studios on March 16, 2020: With the overall health of our community being our primary motivation, we’ve decided to cancel all classes at both studios until April 1st. Please stay tuned to our social channels for frequent updates as we work through this situation together as a community. All memberships, intro class cards, three month unlimited packages, yearly memberships and class cards will be extended for two weeks.

Please read update at end of post. Hello Sovino Wine Bar enthusiasts! We are open per usual and are bleaching the hell out of everything at Sovino for the foreseeable future. Come and visit us at 241 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey. Your support of owner-operated small businesses counts.

Update from Sovino Wine Bar on March 15, 2020: In light of Gov. Newsome’s announcement earlier today that all pubs, bars, and wine bars should close to the public, Sovino will be closing as of March 16th until further notice. We will be offering ways to purchase wine from Sovino very soon and will announce details in the next couple days via social media. Your support for small business and the service industry is now and always deeply felt and appreciated!