Coronavirus could irreversibly change restaurants, with experts predicting customer temperature checks and new fears of crowds

Chains including McDonald's, Burger King, and Popeyes are rolling out temperature checks. Lipton says that, as restaurants begin opening dining rooms, people may need to have their temperature tested before they are allowed to sit down.

Pacific Management Consulting Group founder John Gordon said restaurants would likely continue some social distancing measures when they reopen, putting more space between tables and packing fewer customers into dining rooms.

"A Friday night, Saturday night, a busy Sunday, you are not going to be able to be able to ... produce the same number of bodies, the same amount of sales because of the need to provide some social distance between guests," Gordon said.

Bars — especially those in cities that typically have a crush of customers crowding around — will need to adjust to a new normal in which close contact still concerns many people, Gordon says.

"That's an area that might lag considerably because of the social distancing issue," Gordon said. "Even two people on a date, there might be a little bit more distancing."