Indoor Dining Resumes Today

As part-two of Phase two of the States reopening gets underway today (Mon. June 22), the restraints on restaurants are loosening a little further. Eateries are once again aloud to seat people inside for table service.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s order last week allows restaurants to again seat people inside, with no capacity limits. Tables will need to be six feet apart however, and that will in and of itself limit capacity. Customers are being asked to come in groups of six at the most and to of course, continue to follow social distancing guidelines.

 
Some of the restrictions that restaurants will have to observe include:

All tables must be positioned to maintain at least a six-foot distance from all other tables and high foot traffic areas.

No party seated at a table can exceed 6 people.

Restaurants may not seat any customers at the bar.

All customers must be seated, eat-in service to standing customers is prohibited.

Face coverings will be required for all customers at all times, except when seated at tables.

Face coverings must be worn whenever one must get up from their table.

Condiments and similar products will not be pre-set at tables but will only be available upon request by the customer.

Menus may not be reused and will be available to view digitally, or single-use paper menus can be provided

Tables will not be pre-set to reduce the opportunity for exposure, all silverware and utensils will be rolled.

It is also worth mentioning the other business steps that can resume today:

Personal Care - including nail salons, indoor tanning, personal training, massage therapies and more can open their doors.

Retail fitting rooms will now be available, but by appointment only

Offices may increase to 50% capacity, but working from home when possible is still encouraged

The states Phase III will apparently be delayed at least one week.