Busy weekend for local restaurants with new phase one guidelines

TAMPA, Fla. - Guests filled seats in restaurants across Tampa Bay during the first weekend of Governor DeSantis's Phase One of re-opening Florida.

The busy times did not come without hiccups. With outside tables being six-feet apart and dining rooms having to be no more than 25% full, some restaurants had to turn guests away. Restaurant managers also say it was challenging to stock inventory and organize their seating maps.

“We are just so thrilled to be open,” said Miles McConnell, the General Manager for Jackson's Bistro.  “We did a massive cleaning of the restaurant and we repainted several things, we have the entire team, 130 employees got here the whole weekend getting ready to reopen." 

Mother's Day is a very busy day for Jackson's Bistro.

"We'll do you about 1200 people on a typical Mother’s Day; obviously today is much less with our limited seating and things of that nature,” McConnell said.

It's also a busy day for Eddie and Sam's New York Pizza in downtown. It is part of the city's "Lift Up Local" economic recovery plan.  Barriers are put out on Tampa and Twiggs Streets and tables are on the road for people to sit down and eat. 

"Everything is starting to slowly come back to normal we are starting to slowly bring in more of our staff and extend the hours people are working, so it is looking a lot better right now," said Susie Bogle, the General Manager of Eddie and Sam's.