ROGERS, Ark. — Restaurants across Arkansas opened their doors to dine-in customers for the first time in weeks Monday (May 11).
While the dinner rush looked a little different at Crabby's in Rogers, the staff say it was nice to get to see familiar faces sit down at their tables to enjoy a meal once again.
As soon as you walk into Crabby's you're greeted with a smile and a disposable mask.
General Manager Joey Hurt says they are taking all the steps to ensure a safe and healthy space for customers and staff.
"We are doing every other table which gives us that 6 to 10 foot difference,” Hurt said.
He says with a large entertaining space it wasn't a hard decision to reopen.
“When all this started we had to let go about 36 employees which was extremely tough, don’t ever want to do that again, so new staff members have been coming in, old staff members have been coming in, it's good to see their face catching up with them and then just some of our great regulars too,” Hurt said.
He says the community has shown support during the time away by ordering through to go or delivery, but for bartender Zach Reeves, he's missed seeing his customers face to face.
“The interaction with people is what I miss the most about anything, you know talking to someone over the phone is not the same as me propping up on the bar and saying 'hi how you doing ma’am what can I getcha',” Reeves said.
While many people don't feel ready to slide into a booth at their favorite dining spot just yet, Chuck Ketchmark says it's the first time he's gone to a restaurant since the beginning of March and it was time to get out for a change.
“It was nice and I’m the cook at the house so it was really nice to have someone else cook for us,” Ketchmark said.
He says he won't be eating out every night of the week, but every once in a while is nice.
“Don’t be afraid, the restaurants are taking their precautions," Ketchmark said.
Crabby's plans to continue its delivery and take out services, but Hurt says they're thankful to have people seated at their tables for a change.