:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66907556/Final_JPEGS_0096.0.jpg)
On Friday, Minnesota’s governor announced the third phase of reopening the state, which includes the option for restaurants to reopen dining rooms with reservations, at a diminished capacity beginning Wednesday June 10.
Restaurants and bars will be allowed indoor seating up to 50 percent capacity with a maximum of 250 people indoors or outdoors. Masks are required for workers and strongly encouraged for customers. Reservations are required to allow for tracking in the instance of a COVID-19 breakout.
Last week restaurants were able to begin to reopen patios for dining, as a part of the state’s second phase of opening. However few publicized the opening, as the cities reeled from the riots and protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer.
Some Twin Cities patios that opened last week like Cafe Ena in South Minneapolis, Amore Uptown’s rooftop, and La Grolla in St. Paul, all requiring reservations with tables socially distanced.
More patios are expected to open soon. W.A. Frost’s outdoor dining space, one of the most beloved in the Twin Cities, will reopen on Tuesday June 16. Surly Brewing’s Beer Hall deck opens tomorrow, Tuesday June 9, with 100 percent of its profits being donated to charitable causes.
Some have created patio space where there was previously no outdoor seating like Hot Hands Pie & Biscuit on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. The small cafe set up tables and umbrellas in its back parking lot. The Lynhall on Lyndale has added a white tent and outdoor tables that will start taking reservations this Wednesday.
Still others, like The Buttered Tin in Lowertown will stay the course with take out only for the foreseeable future.
Plans for opening inside dining are currently being rolled out by restaurants across the metro area, where most of the COVID-19 outbreaks have been contained. But, after months of forced closures, Minnesotans can dine out once again beginning Wednesday.
