MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) - Restaurants in New Hampshire reopened their doors to the public on Monday under strict guidelines.
Panuche’s Sports and Music Hall in Manchester was just one location eager to get back into business while abiding by the state’s rules in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“The employees will all be wearing masks,” owner Chuck Kalantziz said. “They all will be wearing gloves. We’ve had to change as far as the silverware; we are gonna be giving disposable ones.”
Granite State restaurants are allowed to reopen as long as they only offer outdoor dining, seat a maximum of six customers per table, and require employees to wear masks.
Officials also recommend that restaurants take reservations.
Kalantziz says moving outside will drop their capacity from roughly 300 to just 70 customers. He added that this is not enough to make a profit but that reopening is important to help bring back a little normalcy.
Kalantziz continued that he’s having trouble getting employees to come back to work.
“The employees are receiving unemployment. They’re making five times the amount, maybe way more than that, of what they would be making here now,” he said.
Another restaurant set to open is the Airport Diner in Manchester, where General Manager Gordon Fogal plans to enforce social distancing among customers.
“We’re only allowing one guest to wait in line and they need to be six feet apart,” he said. “The rest of the guests will wait in their cars.”
If customers don’t follow the rules, Fogal says, “I’m gonna have to pull them aside with the six-feet distancing and have a chat with them.”
Click here for more coronavirus coverage.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)