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Patrons will now be able to sit down and eat at some local restaurants in the community. 

In downtown LaGrange, sister restaurants Mare Sol, C’sons and Beacon will open their doors starting this weekend as a test run. 

“We are opening Mare Sol first on Friday,” said co-owner Chase Hudson. “We are going to limit sitting to 60 people when we can normally seat 160. We are strongly recommending reservations.” 

C’sons will follow and open on Saturday with limited sitting of 20 people. Beacon will also tentatively open on Sunday with a max seating of 20 patrons. 

“Depending on how those three days go, we will decide from there on next week,” Hudson said. 

Mare Sol’s website lists all of the precautions the three restaurants is taking which include: 

• menus will be disposable and not reused
• silverware will be sterilized and rolled in sterile napkins between each use
• hand and silverware sanitizing stations will be at each table and stations will also available throughout the restaurants
• every table will be disinfected between guests
• every table will be at least 6 feet apart
• no more than 6 people will be seated at a table
•  it is strongly requested that only members of a single household are seated at each table
• all employees will have their temperatures taken at the beginning of each shift; any employee displaying a temperature in excess of 99.9 degrees will be sent home and not permitted back to work without a doctor’s authorization
• all employees will be required to wear face masks and gloves
• encouraging guests to use our outdoor seating as much as possible, and seating indoors will be much more limited

Hudson said they have moved most of the seating at Beacon to the outside area. 

“Almost 90 percent of our seating is outside at Beacon, and we encourage reservations at Beacon as well,” Hudson said. “We will continue curb-side pick up once we open.” 

Hudson said even though he is nervous about opening, he is ready to get his employees back to work. 

“We don’t want to be a part of the problem, but we want to get them working again,” Hudson said. “We are going to try these three days and be as careful as we can.” 

Good Ol’ Country Buffet on Vernon Road has also opened its doors for dine-in seating, but its buffet line is still closed. 

“We have to-go plates ready with meals, and then you can take it and sit down and eat,” said owner Phillip Chang. “There is limited space due to the regulations. We have removed half of the tables and all tables are six feet apart.” 

The restaurant is open Monday through Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Chang said all employees are wearing masks and gloves, and they are rigorously cleaning all areas of the restaurant.

Brickhouse Grille in downtown LaGrange will open its doors Friday at 11 a.m. 

“We took out a lot of tables and have about 40 chairs available for seating,” said Brickhouse owner Lance Pool. 

“We started practicing the social distancing guidelines before they even shut down the restaurants. Our bar area will be set up with two chairs every six feet, and our capacity was cut down to a third of what we can actually handle.” 

Poole said they have a professional cleaning crew coming in every Thursday night to sanitize and disinfect that restaurant.

Poole added that all employees are wearing masks and gloves and following social distancing guidelines. 

“Thankfully, we have our garage doors that we are going to try and keep up to encourage the flow of air through the restaurant,” Poole said. “We are also not going to host any musicians until all the bars open back up. We aren’t going to capitalize on something, when other local businesses can’t.” 

Pool said they were excited to open back up and see the community again. 

Your Pie in downtown LaGrange will also open its dining room on May 4 and will continue its online, carry-out and curb side pick-up orders. 

Highland Pines Sunset Grill at Highland Pines Resort and Marina has adjusted its hours and opened the dining room. 

They are open Wednesday and Thursday 4 to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 9 p.m. and Sunday noon to 8 p.m.

The restaurant’s patio is open, and they are now serving the full menu.