BOSTON (WHDH) - Beginning Monday, restaurants will be allowed to reopen their bar seating for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shut businesses across Massachusetts earlier this year.
Not all cities and towns are allowing the expansion, with Boston and Worcester both holding back, but restaurants can now utilize bar seating for food service.
The state is requiring restaurants to install plexiglass between bartenders and diners if drinks and food are prepared at the bar. Stools and high-top tables will also need to be spaced six feet apart.
Group seating at indoor and outdoor tables can also be expanded from six people to 10.
To applause from an audience at Mill City BBQ in Lowell, Gov. Charlie Baker announced the relaxed guidelines during a news conference last week.
Many restaurant owners have said that more help from the government is needed to keep them afloat.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, about 20 percent of Massachusetts restaurants have permanently closed their doors.
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