LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The menu board at Martin’s BBQ says “Welcome,” but manager Carly Barmore doesn’t know how long that invitation to dine in will last.
What You Need To Know
- As coronavirus cases rise in Kentucky, Beshear warns of potential reopening rollbacks for restaurants and bars
- Currently, restaurants can operate at 50 percent capacity
- One local restaurant still isn't serving many dine-in customers
“There’s like a feeling of nervous anticipation,” Barmore said.
Governor Andy Beshear says he’s keeping the option of rolling back reopening on the table if the number of new coronavirus cases surges. At the moment, restaurants can seat 50 percent of their capacity, but Barmore says the number of people actually dining hasn’t changed much since they were capped at 25 percent capacity.
Staff are still operating with a skeleton crew, and at lunchtime Wednesday, only four of their tables were taken. Plenty of orders were being placed for carryout and delivery.
“We’re happy to do curbside or in-house, whatever it is that people need. Of course we would like them to be in here eating and being lively but if they can’t, they can’t,” Barmore said.
She added, “What’s going to happen next... this is charting unknown territory. None of us have ever done this before.”
The dynamic is much different for bars that primarily rely on their drink service for attracting customers.