San Antonio – Chris Madrid’s owner Richard Peacock said the timing of Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Monday was “welcome” and plans are for reopening in a responsible way while practicing social distancing.
During a news conference, Abbott said restaurants, retail shops and movie theaters could open, but with no more than 25% occupancy.
Peacock said to open Chris Madrid’s, they are going to have to “rethink” a lot of what they do because they usually have long lines.
He said they will look at doing something they’ve never done in 42 years and that is to possibly have “table-side ordering” or even have customers order on their phones to maintain social distancing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has released his plans to reopen Texas. Here’s what we know
Peacock said one rule of thumb to reopening is going to be that his employees will need to be comfortable with having their families and friends come to the restaurant on Friday first, and then if they feel good about it, they will open to the general public.
“We’ve been planning on reopening for the last several days and trying to take a look at the things that we need to modify in order to feel good about reopening,” said Peacock. “And, so, the timing today is welcome because it seems like at first blush, at least, that this is a very reasoned, gradual reopening and I think, one that the restaurant industry in general is going to applaud and it can certainly live with.”
Peacock met with his staff members Monday after Abbott’s announcement to talk about reopening plans.
More changes likely if dining in resumes in restaurants
He said they plan on making an announcement on Facebook later this week about when Chris Madrid’s will officially open and they will include information on the changes they’re making.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.
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