Some restaurants may not reopen dining areas Friday

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – The governor says restaurants can reopen their dining areas Friday at 25 percent capacity, but that may not be feasible for some.

“That means in both of my restaurants I can have 45 people in the building,” said Robert Fleming at  Magnolia Pancake Haus. “That includes employees.”

Fleming told KTSA’s Jack Riccardi they haven’t decided whether to reopen under those restrictions.

He says a better idea would be to have tables six feet apart to comply with the social distancing guidelines, which would give them about 75 seats.

“We would require everyone to wait outside or in their car.  You cannot wait inside the building,” said Fleming.

He would have the waiters and cooks wear masks and gloves.

“They can’t be six feet apart in the kitchen because they can’t stand in one spot and do their jobs, so they’ll have masks and gloves on,” said Fleming.

However, that’s not in Phase 1 of the governor’s plan to reopen Texas.   Greg Abbott did say that if Texas is able to contain the spread of COVID-19 with the 25 percent capacity restrictions on retail stores, shopping malls, restaurants and movie theaters, they may be able to increase it to 50 percent in Phase 2, which will be announced May 18.

Magnolia continues to offer takeout during the COVID-19 restrictions.