TYLER, Texas — Restaurants, movie theaters and retail stores can all reopen on Friday under Phase I of Governor Greg Abbott's plan to safely reopen Texas.
However, several restaurants in East Texas say they are choosing to stay closed for the time being.
Lance McWhorter, owner of Culture ETX in downtown Tyler, says he not ready to reopen his dining room just yet.
"Our primary concern isn't putting great food in front of people's faces," said McWhorter. "It's making sure that it's safe right now and you know, we're a smaller place it's it's definitely much tighter, you know, the kitchens right in the dining room, everything's going on in the smaller space and so it's not the right move for us right now."
Annie Gilstrap, co-owner of ETX Brewing Co., says her business will also keep its dining room closed.
"Right now, we're just we don't feel ready to open and so we think it's in the best interest of the public and our employees just to wait a little bit longer," said Gilstrap.
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One of the main concerns for both owners, other than safety, is the cost associated with reopening.
"We will have to have more bussers, just more employees in general," said Gilstrap. "And then you're talking about being able to pay all these expenses with a revenue of only 25% of what a normal running revenue would be."
"I still have to have those servers in here, I actually have to have more servers in here because we don't want that overlap as much," said McWhorter. "We have to maintain that social distancing."
Despite deciding not to reopen, both restaurant owners say that they will continue their delivery and take-out services.
To see a list of businesses that will be open for in-house dining and shopping come Friday, text "OPEN" to (903) 600-2600.