By executive order from Gov. Tate Reeves, restaurants will be allowed to reopen with restrictions beginning Thursday, and while some are taking steps to do so in Marion County, most remain wary and will wait to make decisions.
Stacy’s Skillet will be reopening its dining area Thursday, following every aspect of the executive order that allows restaurants to open at 50% capacity with tables spaced at minimum six feet apart and other various safety measures. Owner Stacy Morgan said the 50% capacity won’t be an issue because the restaurant has a capacity of 200 people but rarely had more than 100 customers at a time to begin with.
One of the favorites of Stacy’s Skillet is its salad bar, which will remain closed to customers, but salads will be available. Rather than customers making their own salads, they will tell their server what they want on it and have it made for them.
Morgan said she is beyond excited to be opening the doors of her Lakeview Drive restaurant.
“Words cannot describe it. I’m tickled pink,” she said. “I really am very excited about opening back up, and I hope my customers are, too.”
When Stacy’s Skillet had to close its dining area and only serve customers through to-go orders and the drive-through, Morgan had to reduce the staff from 16 people to only six. But she said she brought her staff back Tuesday to begin disinfecting the building, and she is looking to add to the staff. The restaurant lost one of its long-time employees, Trina Powell, who recently died from pneumonia.
“It broke my heart. It’s been rough around here. We closed Friday for her funeral,” Morgan said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.”
Tina’s Family Restaurant’s Maria Blanco said the restaurant remains undecided on any potential steps to reopen its dining area and will wait until the middle of next week to see how things are progressing. The restaurant on the corner of Broad and White streets just started doing to-go orders with curbside pickup Monday after being closed for six weeks.
“I’m scared of getting unnecessarily exposed with more people,” she said.
Nathaniel Smith of Tina’s said it has started a delivery service, particularly to cater to its elderly customers, and the restaurant is considering making delivery a permanent option. For a delivery order, it must be more than $20, within a five-mile radius and there is a $5 delivery charge.
Bogie’s owner George Seal said Tuesday they were still discussing their options since it closed its doors when the first shelter-in-place order was issued.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t look good,” he said. “We’re going to try to give it our best shot, though.”
Right now Bogie’s is aiming for a soft opening May 15 with to-go orders and light dining inside, but the buffet will remain closed.
“We’re going to do everything we can to protect our employees and the public,” Seal said. “I hope it’s enough.”
Seal added most of the employees had to be laid off with Bogie’s not receiving PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans despite applying multiple times. He said he has a five-year lease on the building, and all of the money the business has made in the past four or five years has been lost in an effort to keep the doors open in the long term.
Second Street Bean has been open for curbside business, but manager Taryn Larremore said there are no plans as of right now to reopen the dining area.
However, the café has plans to offer patio dining beginning Monday to go along with its to-go ordering. The café will not be using its regular plates and silverware for the patio dining but will instead use its to-go containers and disposable forks, spoons and knives to avoid any added potential for germs spreading.
