
Governor Greg Abbott announced Monday that the state’s current stay-at-home order will expire on Thursday, officially permitting businesses such as restaurants, retail, and museums to reopen their doors to walk-in customers on Friday. Certain conditions do apply — businesses must not exceed 25% occupancy — but this development means the state will begin the process of a return to a sense of normalcy.
Businesses that won’t be authorized to take walk-in customers include barbershops, salons, bars, and gyms. Such brick and mortars will have to wait till May 18 to see their first customers. And those that don’t abide by the occupancy restrictions could be subject to a $1,000 fine and 180 days in jail.
The move is the first in what will be a series of openings and loosening of restrictions — the governor would also like to jump capacity up to 50% by May 18.
However, before you go dashing sans mask to your favorite local eatery, you should know that not all businesses are feeling the rewards outweigh the risks.
For instance, the line that usually forms outside of Melt Ice Creams on Magnolia Avenue will remain absent.
“We will continue as curbside pickup for now,” Kari Crowe, owner of Melt Ice Creams, says. “Twenty-five percent [occupancy] doesn’t make sense for us.”
The Grand Berry Theater, in its decision to remain closed, is vocal about putting the health and safety of their customers and employees first.
“As we continue to promote social distancing efforts, we will not be opening for regular showtimes,” the theater’s owners said in a Facebook post. “We want to continue supporting our frontline workers in the effort to contain COVID-19 and will continue to evaluate best practices when that time comes.”
Other businesses such as Heim Barbecue, Stir Crazy Baked Goods, and Leaves Book and Tea Shop will also remain closed to walk-in customers — though all will continue curbside pick-up. Craftwork Coffee Co., which had closed all shops, will reopen select locations and accept pick-up orders starting Friday.
On the other end, those that will test the waters and will be taking orders indoors include Panther City BBQ and Press Cafe.
But precautions will be taken, Press Cafe vice president of operations Jennifer Crossland told Fort Worth Magazine. When the restaurant reopens May 4, all staff will be required wear masks. Alcohol wipes will be on each table, while condiments will be off the table — so if you need sugar or a little extra salt and pepper, you'll need to ask for it.
"We're cautiously optimistic because we don't want to go backwards," Crossland said.
The Basement Bar, which received media attention last week following a defiant Facebook post announcing their decision to open their doors May 1, remain bullish in their determination to open to the public.
Despite bars being excluded from businesses that can open, the Basement Bar still plans on receiving customers this Friday.
In a message echoed by all three museums, Kendal Smith-Lake, director of communications at the Modern Art Museum, said, “We are reviewing the governor’s opening order and determining how best the museum can implement the direction.
“As of right now, we do not plan to open on Friday, May 1.”
While some businesses were quickly decisive following the governor’s announcement, others are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Bird Café, 155 E. Fourth St., Fort Worth
Bird Cafe confirmed Wednesday it's reopening its dining room beginning Friday. Its post: “Big News: Bird Café will be open for dining starting this Friday!!! Enjoy a delicious meal and BRUNCH this weekend! Our team is ecstatic at the opportunity to serve you all again!"
Its new hours: 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; Mondays, closed.
"All tables will be arranged six feet apart, and the restaurant will adhere to the 25% occupancy guideline. We are sanitizing before the restaurant opens and constantly throughout the day. Our staff will wear protective masks, and we are taking all staff temperatures and monitoring closely."
Black Cat Pizza, 401 Bryan Ave., Fort Worth
Black Cat's decided against re-opening its dining area for now. "To all our faithful customers: thank you for your continued support during this time. We are going to keep on as we have for the past six weeks for a little bit longer. We miss all of you and can’t wait to see you in our place again.. it will be worth the wait! Meanwhile we’ll keep pumping out AWESOME pizza that makes a quarantine a little bit more tolerable."
Blue Mesa Grill, 612 Carroll St., Fort Worth
Blue Mesa will open for dine-in Friday and also continue offering free delivery and curbside pick-up.
Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine, Waters, Buffalo Bros, Fort Worth
Chef Jon Bonnell has been doing popular family meal packs with drive-through distribution at Bonnell's and Waters, and curbside, takeout, and delivery at Buffalo Bros. Friday, he's reopening Buffalo Bros with 25% capacity, but continuing daily curbside only at Bonnell's and Waters. Here's his social media post:
"Both locations of Buffalo Bros Pizza, Wings & Subs will reopen on Friday with every precaution listed, plus a few of our own. We intend to allow patrons inside with extreme spacing, only 25% occupancy max, masks and gloves on our employees, sanitizer stations throughout, but will also continue with our curbside, to-go, and delivery services for those who choose to use them. Bonnell's Restaurant and Waters Restaurant will continue to do curbside family meals for this phase, and consider opening our dining rooms inside at a later date. Please understand that we do not come by these decisions lightly and have weighed all of our options. Please be understanding of all restaurants as they choose their best paths forward. This has been very difficult for all of them, and many will not survive this crisis."
Buffalo West, 7101 Camp Bowie West, Fort Worth
Buffalo West announced it’s reopening its dining room at 11 a.m. Friday at the 25% capacity max.
Campisi’s, 6150 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
Campisi’s is reopening its dining room Friday at 25% capacity. Here’s its post: “Have you heard the news?! Campisi’s will reopen this Friday! As always, our main priority is your health and well-being, so we will only be reopening at 25% capacity for dine in guests. Additionally, we’ll continue to strictly follow the recommendations set forth by the CDC. Guests will be welcomed first come first serve. We hope to see you on Friday! For those who may not yet be ready to dine in, we will continue offering contactless delivery and curbside pick-up.”
Cane Rosso, 815 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Cane Rosso has decided against immediately re-opening its dining room. "After discussing the newest guidelines issued by Governor Abbott, we have determined that we are not ready to commit to being open at 25% occupancy as early as May 1st, as the Phase 1 restrictions begin lifting. Opening our dining rooms, even at just 25% occupancy, is a big task that involves an innumerable amount of updated procedures, increased safety precautions, and as many of you are hearing today, financial considerations. And as a company that spans four cities in Texas with hundreds of employees, we do not wish to rush into this decision without having solid plans for both our employees and our guests…all 25% of them. Like so many others, our businesses are hurting. We want nothing more than to welcome guests back into our buildings for some pizza. We will continue to monitor the situation and open as soon as we feel confident that we can do so both safely and when we believe that we can offer an experience that we know so many of you want right now. This could be next week…this could be when Phase 2 starts in mid-May. We just don’t know right now. But we do know that we want to open as soon as it makes sense to do so... We will continue to offer curbside pickup and delivery orders, as we have during this whole sh*tshow. Pickup orders can now be called in OR placed online via the “Order Pickup” links on www.canerosso.com. Delivery is available via Uber Eats, but as you know, delivery services cut into our bottom line, so if you CAN pick up your pizza, please pick up your pizza directly from us! You can also grab a 50% off bottle of wine, six pack of beer for $12, or a couple of cocktail take-home kits while you’re out."
Cannon Chinese Kitchen, 304 W. Cannon St.; Shinjuku Station, 711 W. Magnolia Ave.; Tokyo Cafe, 5121 Pershing Ave., all Fort Worth
This restaurant group is taking a wait-and-see approach. Its social media post: "With yesterday's announcement by Governor Abbott, we continue to practice social distancing and serve takeout only until further notice. As much as we would love to serve you in our dining room, we need to keep the safety of our restaurant family and guests in mind. We will give this re-opening some time to settle and re-evaluate to ensure we are making the best decision for our community."
CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, 5188 Marathon Ave., Fort Worth
The Clearfork restaurant will open Friday at 25% occupancy, with tables placed six feet apart, servers wearing gloves and masks, one-time use menus, no tables over six guests, and increased sanitation. CRÚ will also check employees' temperatures when they arrive and send home employees suspecting any symptoms.
Derek Allan's Texas Barbecue, 1116 8th Ave., Fort Worth
Derek Allan's confirmed it's reopening its dining room Friday. Earlier this week, the restaurant posted this: "Really excited to have our customers back this Friday! We missed y’all and were going through some heavy withdrawals.. it’s been way too long..Thank you for all that has come to see us regardless, and helping us get through the hard times you won’t be forgotten! We’re blessed and forever grateful." Tuesday, the restaurant posted this: "We're looking for part time help with food preparation, customer / register help, help running our line. Looking for reliable people that want to grow within our small group and be apart of our thriving business!"
Dutch’s Hamburgers, 3009 S. University Drive, Fort Worth
Dutch's Hamburgers at TCU is reopening its dining room Friday. Its post: “Dutch’s will open on Friday to dine in customers at 25% occupancy! We still encourage take out orders, but will have our dining room and all 4 outdoor patios ready for seating at 11am Friday morning. We have put in place sanitation schedules, social distancing table arrangements and plenty of sanitizing stations for your use. Our employees will be wearing gloves and masks and will make sure you feel comfortable and safe while dining with us! Hope to see you Friday.”
Fixture Kitchen and Social Lounge, W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Fixture is reopening its dining room this weekend. "Our plan is to open this Friday and Saturday. We will be closed Sunday and Monday for us to evaluate the situation and make any improvements we feel necessary to provide the safest dining experience possible. Your safety is our highest priority. If you do not feel comfortable coming back out to dine just yet, we will be offering curbside service. It’s been 6 weeks since we have been able to serve our delicious food. We will update this post if there are any changes. Cheers!"
Four Sisters – Taste of Vietnam, 1001 S. Main St., Fort Worth
Four Sisters on Wednesday said it would hold off reopening its dining room. "After much consideration, we have decided to keep providing takeout & curbside pickup only. We are evaluating and preparing for the safety of our staff and customers before opening our dine-in area. Thank you for your understanding and continuous support!"
Grace Restaurant, 777 Main St., Fort Worth
Grace announced it will reopen its dining room Wednesday, May 6, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. It's continuing its takeout and curbside hours, Tuesday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
Heim Barbecue, 1109 W. Magnolia Ave., 5333 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth
For the time being, Heim is not reopening its dining rooms, sticking with pick-up at its two restaurants. Here's its social media post: "At Heim Barbecue we are very grateful for the work being done by Governor Abbott, Mayor Betsy Price, and others to help small businesses return to normal business. However, at this time we have made the difficult decision not to re-open our dining rooms at 25% occupancy. Our #1 priority is providing the best quality food we can to our guests, in the safest way possible, and we feel the best way to do that is through our current pick-up/to-go options available at both locations. We will continue to monitor everything on a daily basis and look forward to opening our dining rooms as soon as possible. Thank you for all the continued support and love. #supportyourlocalbbqjoint"
Lili's Bistro on Magnolia, 1310 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Lili's has decided against reopening its dining room under Phase 1 — 25% capacity — of the Texas governor's plan. "Lili's Bistro, with the input from friends, family and employees has made the decision to not re-open for normal business during Phase 1 of the governor's plan to re-open some business. We will continue to maintain our curbside pick-up business as we have done in recent weeks. With the input from others, Lili's has decided it's safer and more practical to wait for Phase 2 currently scheduled to begin to May 18th, 2020. With an additional two weeks from Ptase one, we feel we can make a safer and better informed decision to re-opening at that time. We hope our guests will continue to support us as they have. We are grateful for the continued support and hopeful that Lili's will be closer to a normal business re-opening in the next couple of weeks."
The Lunch Box, 6333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
The Lunch Box said it's holding off reopening its dining room. Its post: "The Lunch Box will remains OPEN for curbside pickup and FREE delivery! Our dining room will remain closed for the foreseeable future. We look forward to celebrating Teachers Appreciation, Mother’s Day and 2020 Graduations with all of our customers!"
Mancuso’s Italian Ristorante, 9500 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth
Mancuso's is waiting until May 18 to make an announcement on reopening its West Side dining room. Its post: “Thank you all for your continued support during this time. After considerable thought and a review of Governor Abbott’s announcement today, we have decided to continue offering curbside orders only. Our primary goal is to keep our customers and staff safe and healthy. On May 18th, we will make an announcement to coincide with the state’s Phase II plan. Starting May 1st, our curbside hours will be 3pm-8pm. We will continue to have family dinner specials during this period. Your support means the world to us. You are the reason we have not laid off any of our employees during these uncertain times. From the Mancuso’s family, to yours, grazie mille!”
Michael's Cuisine, 3413 W. 7th St., Fort Worth
Michael's is continuing with its curbside takeout plan for now. Its most recent post: "We are currently working on our Re-Opening Plan. At 25% occupancy, We are limited to a total of 32 guests and We are working on what will be the Best for our Loyal Fans, Staff, and the fulfillment of our MC Mission.Until then, we are continuing our MC Curbside Takeout operation!"
Neighbor's House Grocery, 501 W. 6th St., Fort Worth
Neighbor's House continues to offer in-store and online grocery shopping. This week, it re-opened its Mitch's and began offering breakfast and grilled cheeses again, only taking orders through its app for curbside pickup. "We will not be offering dine-in or bar service until further notice. We are working hard to keep all of our neighbors safe and healthy during this time!"
Nonna Tata, 1400 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Nonna Tata is holding off reopening its dining room and patio. "While we are very anxious to return to normal, we have made the tough decision not to reopen our dining room or patio at this time. We are working hard to maintain the safest conditions for our staff and customers and we feel the most prudent thing we can do right now is wait. We hope you continue to support our takeout, curbside, and delivery options during this time."
Panther City, BBQ, 201 E. Hattie St., Fort Worth
Panther City is reopening its dining room and patio at 25% capacity Friday. Here's its social media post:
"@panthercitybbq will reopen our dining area/patio to 25% capacity starting Friday, May 1st. We still encourage those not ready to dine in to take advantage of call in/curbside, and take out ordering. Our staff is committed to helping the community ease back into some sense of normalcy in the safest way possible. We will still be operating on our schedule of 11-4 Thursday-Saturday and 12-4 on Sunday. Breakfast will remain 7-10am Thursday-Saturday. See you soon-Chris, Ernie, and the PCBBQ FAMILY."
Righteous Foods, 3405 W. Seventh St., Fort Worth
Righteous Foods will not be opening its dining room. However, it will continue curbside and delivery with extended hours: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Breakfast and coffee will also return via curbside.
Spiral Diner & Bakery, 1314 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Spiral Diner is deciding against immediately reopening its dining rooms. "We have made the decision to continue our operation as curbside and pick up only at this time. We will not re-open our dining rooms on May, 1st. When we do re-open our dining rooms we want to do so in the safest way possible for both employees and customers. We will continue to monitor on a daily basis and we look forward to seeing your faces in the dining rooms and serving you delicious vegan food as soon as we can safely do so. Thank you for your continued love and support."
Spring Creek Barbecue, multiple locations
Spring Creek is not reopening its dining rooms for now. "In an effort to serve you the high quality Texas barbecue we take so much pride in, and in order to provide the safest environment for our employees and our guests, we have made the decision not to re-open our dining rooms under the new 25% occupancy standard when it begins Friday May 1st. We will continue to serve serve our guests through curbside service, and we look forward to receiving your online, phone, and delivery orders. We are excited to re-open our dining rooms to you in the near future."
Stir Crazy Baked Goods, 1251 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth
Owner Robbie Werner is holding off reopening her dining room for now. Here's her social media post: "Hey cute people,Just wanted to say that the way we have been doing business since March 16 has been working for us, and we’re going to keep it that way for awhile longer. Some places are choosing otherwise, but you’ve shown your support of our bakery in this new way, and though we MISS YOU something fierce indoors, we feel it’s safest to keep on with curbside service!"
Swiss Pastry Shop, 3936 W. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth
Swiss Pastry Shop is reopening its dining room Friday at 25% capacity. Here's its social media post: "Hey gang! We're excited to announce that dine-in service will resume Friday, May 1st with limited seating. We are working to make sure our staff is equipped to keep you as safe as possible, and we ask that you be patient with us as we are allowed by the state to only seat at 25% of our capacity."
The Post at River East, 2925 Race St., Fort Worth
The restaurant of the Race Street music venue has decided not to open this week. Instead, it will continue contact-free pickup and free delivery of family meals and cocktail kits.
Wishbone & Flynt and The Amber Room, 334 Bryan Ave., Fort Worth
Chef Stefon Rishel earlier this year opened this restaurant and adjoining speakeasy, and then got socked by the COVID-19 shutdowns, forcing it into curbside take-out. Rishel is re-opening at 10 a.m. Friday at 25% capacity. He's urging reservations. "We get to be with our favorite people back at our restaurant again THIS FRIDAY!" the restaurant exulted in a social media post. "Our team is beyond excited to open our doors and our patio!! We can’t thank you guys enough for your support, and an extra special thank you in advance for your patience as we work around this new order to be sure we’re in compliance. More details to come on how we’ll be celebrating the rebirth of Wishbone & Flynt + The Amber Room!!"
Winslow's Wine Cafe, 4101 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
Winslow's tipped on Tuesday that it would be announcing plans Wednesday. Here's its Tuesday post: "In ques(adilla) you were wondering, we WILL be gradually reopening and are working out the details of that so please stay tuned tomorrow! In the meantime, our curbside to-go will be continuing for quite awhile and tonight, you can pick up something tasty like this slow cooked short rib quesadilla to enjoy at home."