SALEM, MASS. (WHDH) - As Massachusetts gets ready to move forward in the state’s reopening process, restaurants are preparing to welcome in more customers.
The Bay State is set to enter Phase 3, Step 2 of the reopening process Monday, meaning restaurants will no longer have a percent capacity limit and they will be permitted to host musical performances, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday at Ledger Restaurant in Salem.
Customers still must maintain a six-foot distance and can remain in place for up to 90 minutes. Tables are also limited to six people.
Massimo Tiberi, owner of Ayra Trattoria in Boston, says this is a step in the right direction.
“I think the restaurant owners just want it to be over and go on with life, you know,” he said. “It’s been a tough year but we are almost out of the dark you know. Let’s keep going forward.”
Ledger Restaurant owner Matt O’Neil says he’s thrilled to have more people dining inside his establishment.
“The indoor dining piece is big and getting that started is the right direction,” he said. “In a place like this you can have social distancing and still do some numbers because it’s big — still a challenge for other restaurants that might not be designed in a big box.”
Staying socially distant is hard to do for many restaurants in Boston’s North End given their small spaces.
Adriana De Stefano has only so much room to work with inside Cafe Paradiso, which shares an outdoor dining space on Hanover Street with the Arya Trattoria upstairs.
“It’s fine. We all have to accommodate as many people as possible,” she said. “The restaurants have really been hit hard. We are trying to make it. We are trying to make as much of it as possible.”
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