South Carolina reopens indoor dine-in services

ROCK HILL, S.C. (WBTV) - Grabbing a bite at a South Carolina restaurant will also mean grabbing a seat inside.

Gov. Henry McMaster is allowing restaurants to reopen their indoor dining seating on Monday, but with limitations.

The eased restriction began at 12:01 a.m. on Monday.

Some spent Sunday preparing to open indoor dine-in for the first time in two months.

The restaurants have some pretty extensive safety guidelines they have to follow for dine-in services.

Some restaurant owners are already preparing by splitting up tables to be six to eight feet apart from each other.

Inside, restaurants will limit customers to 50 percent of the occupancy rate set by the fire marshal. Between that and the spaced-out tables, it is taking some maneuvering.

A few restaurants closed early Sunday just to be able to get their sanitation plans in place.

Sanitation is a huge factor for why Gov. McMaster is letting these restaurants reopen indoor dining.

Restaurant staff has to have clean tables, chairs, doorknobs, and anything else people might touch.

Despite all the extra work, Rock Hill’s Burgers and Barley owner Jason Cloud said he is ready to get back into the swing of things.

”We’re excited to be able to have some inside diners. It’s been 60 plus days since anybody’s been able to enjoy an experience inside the restaurant," Cloud said.

Cars packed the parking lot at Burgers and Barley for a Mother’s Day meal on Sunday.

Cloud’s staff served and prepared for Monday’s indoor dining reopening.

“We’re excited," Cloud said. “We’re ready. We’re going to make it happen. We’re getting back to some form of normalcy.”

Cloud lost 80 percent of his business when he switched to curbside and takeout.

He said the transition did not go smoothly.

”Every day since this has happened there’s been a challenge," Cloud said. “Yeah, it’s been a challenge, but we’ve done the best we can.”

Cloud hopes that practice makes perfect.

He was able to open his patio for the week in Phase One of Gov. McMaster’s plan.

That gave him a 30-percent boost.

Cloud said that he only lost 50 percent of the sales he was getting before the coronavirus. He hopes indoor dine-in service can be the boost they need to get back to normal.

”We’re just looking for a smooth day," Cloud said. “People to be accepting of the challenges. We’re certainly looking forward to getting the train back on the tracks."

Not everybody is ready to reopen their restaurant.

Time Out Sports Bar & Grill in Rock Hill will remain closed until Friday.

The bar usually stays open until 2 a.m., so Jessie Freeman, the general manager, could have swung open the doors at 12:01 a.m. when Phase Two starts.

”We felt that if we were to jump the gun and open at 12:01, we would not have been ready on a sanitary level," Freeman said.

Freeman said he has all the sanitary equipment, but it is his safety protocol plan that needs work to make sure his staff and regulars staff safe.

His bar is smaller, so he wants to make sure they can socially distance the tables on the side and the barstools at the bar.

Freeman might be delaying the reopening, but he is still excited to get back to serving up his customers inside.

”It’s awesome. I love it. It’s nice to give a little fist bump or elbow bump in a sanitary way, but hugs will come later," Freeman said.

On Friday, McMaster mentioned Phase Three could be letting these restaurants get back up to full speed.

There’s no set time on when that could happen.

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