On the day governor's rules allowed Massachusetts restaurants to resume serving patrons inside their buildings, BK’s Tavern swung its doors open, and with a new look.
New carpet. New lighting. A paint job.
“You look at a building when it’s empty and ask what you don’t like,” owner Bob Karam said on Monday morning. Blue lighting has replaced the yellow lights that had wrapped around both the bar and dining area.
“We’re excited for the grand reopening,” Karam said.
There are state-mandated restrictions, most notably the 50-percent capacity rule.
Karam said BK's has been doing well with its outdoor service, a patio and adjacent greenery, but the restaurant crew is anxious to get back into action inside, where the chef and cooks are close to the patrons, where the seating is more comfortable, and where foul weather poses no threat.
BK’s is open every day, as normal, with the hours, for now, extending from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Frank Skarpos, owner of Excellent Pizza on County Street in Somerset, was on Monday excited to once again be able to seat patrons
Takeout is a huge part of his business, but Skarpos also considers his a people business. He was seeing a lot of grumpy faces earlier this spring when service was relegated to curbside. Once customers were able to come into the building, friendships were renewed. And now that patrons can sit down and stick around for a while while enjoying a pizza, grinder or salad, the Excellent Pizza world is back to the way its owner loves it.
"It's mentally, happiness, to see people like before," Skarpos said. "That's why. Not because we make more money, or less money. You like to see people happy. Happy, smiles. Say hi. Happy birthday. Happy anniversary. Happy anything. That's what it's all about. See people with the kids, say hi, the pizza man is here. We went to see the pizza man."
Less than a mile to the south, the Comfort Zone restaurant, at the start of Riverside Avenue, is just about set to once again start sitting patrons, albeit with tables spaced at least six feet apart. It’s inside reopening is set for Thursday. The owners, the Mendes and Lazaro families, have been operating Thursdays through Sundays, with cut-back hours. Patrons have been filling the 11 patio tables the past two weeks.
“We’ve been really busy,” owner Elroy Lazaro said.
The Comfort Zone has been taking reservations for the outdoor action, and Lazaro said he recommends patrons do the same for inside dining. Walk-ups are welcome, but they may have to vacate by a certain time for a reserved seating.
“It’s a new way of doing business,” Lazaro said. “The last few weeks we’ve been dealing with the cards we’re dealt.”
Sagres, the regionally/nationally famous Portuguese restaurant on Columbia Street in Fall River, will reopen its building to patrons on Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday are its standard closed days.
“At the beginning of this, if you had told me we’d be closed three months and somehow survive, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Sagres owner Victor DaSilva said.
Sagres did somehow manage to survive, helped by takeout and outdoor dining (nine tables) the last couple of weeks. DaSilva said he wishes the state had allowed the outdoor dining earlier.
“I thank everyone for supporting us,’’ DaSilva said. “I’ve been in business a lot of years. Now I just want to open, hope things go well and adjust.”
Sagres has not suffered just from the loss of dining room business. DaSilva just missed out on what was to be a busy season with the second-floor function room.
With dining rooms restricted to 50 percent capacity, DaSilva cannot return staffing to 100 percent. “I can’t rehire everyone back. That’s our biggest challenge,” he said.
Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.