TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)—Monday started off busy for Co-owner of Red Seven John Christos. With plans to open his restaurant at 50% capacity, employees are hard at work making sure they are prepared.
"We've kind of done extensive cleaning over the last couple of weeks and we are intensifying it even today," said Christos.
Tables are cordoned off and spaced. The bar area is without seats so that people are socially distanced and far apart.
"We are limiting which tables we can sit and when we can sit them in hopes of keeping that social distance," said Christos.
The Christos Family owns other restaurants in Greater Lafayette and they are following the same procedures at each one. He says it's been a balancing act having all of the restaurants closed during this time.
"It's really been kind of a major, major adjustment," said Christos. "Trying to slow down from basically doing 100 mph to basically 5 mph or actually in some cases 0."
He said it's a challenge for many restaurants to slowly re-open half-full.
"Obviously restaurants are not built to be run at 50% capacity," said Christos. "But we want people to get a little bit more comfortable. We want them to come in and see exactly what kind of precautions we are taking making sure we keep them safe and keep our staff safe."
Customer Kim Allbaugh said she enjoys dining in at the local restaurant but not this soon.
"I am choosing to wait a few weeks," said Christos. "I want to see the results of people going in and dining at 50% capacity."
Allbaugh said she is going to wait a while before choosing to dine in.
"Whether the rates go up or go down," said Allbaugh. "Maybe closer to May 24th is when I might do that."
"We want people get a good feel for what we are trying to accomplish and then at their pace come back an visit us whenever they feel comfortable," said Christos.
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