CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Bar doors are open and the taps are running.
Bars in Texas are reopening today for the first time since March, when Governor Greg Abbott closed down a myriad of business to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
However, today many bar owners are already anticipating larger crowds than they can take in.
“We’ll have probably a waiting list of people wanting to come in,” said Jesse Noyola owner of 1st and 10 Sports Bar.
Noyola says he and his staff are making the safety of their customers and employees a priority.
“We have hand sanitizer as you walk in,” said Loyola.
His bar staff will be wearing face masks and all the tables are separated to make sure everyone continues to practice social distancing.
Hi Ho’s Drive Inn Bar opened their doors at 2 p.m. Friday.
However, owner Jerry Dalton says he’s playing it safe and won’t be opening up the indoor seating of his bar yet.
“I felt it was not safe at this moment to allow people inside so we decided to do a walk up window kind of bar,” said Dalton.
He set up tables and chairs in his parking so he’s not limited to only serving 25% of his business capacity.
The owner of Gemini Sushi Bar and The Ranch, formally known as Ropers, says his bars cater to dancing crowds.
Still, they’re discouraging people from dancing with strangers or people outside of their immediate party.
The bar owners we spoke to say they are excited to reopen, but they will be using this weekend as a litmus test to determine if they need to make any changes.