LUBBOCK, Texas — Lubbock bars were able to reopen open Friday after being closed several weeks.
Bars, tasting rooms and breweries are now able to able to open their doors at 25 percent capacity.
Sipa Mayfield, manager at Bash Riprock’s said it’s a relief to reopen.
“I’m sure for everyone in Lubbock that’s part of the bar industry that has been closed down, it’s a big relief and a lot of changes, but it’s good changes,” Mayfield said.
Bash Riprock’s is the oldest college bar in Lubbock. Mayfield said she had been worried about how long bars like hers would remain closed.
“Difficult to even think or imagine of what has happened, and to know that you really can’t do much but wait it out,” Mayfield said.
Although there are still some restrictions to the way bars can do business, Mayfield believes it’s a step in the right direction.
“Business owners are just excited to have the doors open because that means that something is being sold,” Mayfield said.
Some of the changes Bash Riprock’s has made is creating a sanitizing station. Patrons are asked to sanitize their hands before taking a seat. Additionally, tables have been spread apart and customers are not permitted to order drinks at the bar.
Down in the Depot District, The Garden has also reopened its doors after several months. Owner Mark Martinez said he is excited.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to at least kind of get back to some sort of normal,” Martinez said.
Martinez said he is glad to get his employees back and working, even though the coronavirus has made things difficult.
“We have to get open but at the same time we still want to do it responsibly and make sure that we’re doing it right and not getting anyone else sick,” Martinez said.
Changes the Garden has made to its establishment include hand sanitizer posts with signs that read, ‘Stop! Sanitize!’ It has also separated the tables by six feet and has posted signs with information about the coronavirus. Exits and entrances have also been separated, and tape lines the floor to show customers where they should stand to follow social distancing.
Governor Greg Abbott’s occupancy limits do not apply to outdoor areas, as long as those places maintain safe distancing between parties, according to the Office of the Governor.
