BOSTON (WHDH) - Restaurants throughout Massachusetts have undergone changes to allow for indoor dining beginning Monday under the next step of the state’s reopening plan.
When Phase 2 launched June 8, restaurants were permitted to welcome guests back for outdoor dining. They will now be allowed to offer limited indoor table service, Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Friday.
Several restrictions have been put into place in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including spacing tables 6 feet apart, not exceeding six people per table, and not allowing patrons to sit at the bar.
Frank Depasquale, a restaurant owner in Boston’s North End, says he’s been making sure his tables are spaced out as he gets ready to welcome guests back inside.
“This is, as I’ve said many times before, the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Paul D’Amore, owner of Massimino’s in the North End, is planning his customers abide by the guidelines that have been put into place.
“Customers are allowed to sit with no masks. When customers get up to use the restrooms, they need to put their masks on,” he explained. “You know the people have been really good about it. Everybody kind of knows what’s going on.”
Rich Vellante, the executive chef of Legal Sea Foods, says he’s grateful to add another option to what’s been a difficult road of months without business.
“Being able to shepherd some people inside so that people are comfortable, it’s just really helpful,” he said. “Every little bit helps.”
For restaurants like the Breakfast Club in Allston who have not been able to seat patrons outdoors, this has been a long time coming.
“It was just such a lifestyle change and basically we didn’t have a life,” one man said. “So now to get back to the social lives of everybody coming back in would be great.”
Close-contact personal services, including nail salons and tattoo parlors, can also resume business on Monday.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)