On Wednesday, businesses in Dallas and Texas were free to decide for themselves how best to protect customers and employees from COVID-19 with the end of statewide restrictions.
At the original Dickey’s Barbecue restaurant on the Central Expressway in Henderson in Dallas on Wednesday noon, customer Richard Purkis was in the restaurant for the second time in a year.
He stopped on his way home after receiving his second COVID-19 vaccine at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas.
“We have to come back to life,” he said.
Dickey’s has 163 restaurants in Texas and General Manager Laura Rae Dickey said she was pleased to see a slight increase in lunchtime activities across the chain.
“I expect it to be a constant factor instead of a fire hose because I think people test whatever they feel comfortable with,” she said.
The company has eliminated door instructions asking customers to wear masks, but still require employees to wear them.
It will continue changes such as the end of buffet-style service and the new outdoor patio option at the flagship location.
“COVID didn’t just magically disappear just because the mask’s mandate was adjusted. Our supply team therefore remains masked, but our customers dine because they are comfortable. So this is really the change for us. Everything else stays the same, ”Dickey said.
Across the central freeway, all of the businesses in a retail strip still had requests on their doors for customers to wear masks and most customers did.
At 24 Hour Fitness in McKinney on Wednesday, masks were no longer needed. The health club set up a space for members who wanted to stay away from people who chose not to wear masks.
At Dickey’s Restaurant, customers had mixed feelings about the end of official mask restrictions.
Customer Christian Allen wore a mask as he stood in line to be served.
“Personally, I think we should all wear them because they don’t tell us the virus is gone,” he said.
Richard Purkis had his mask handy while he ate lunch.
“I think it’s a personal choice whether you want to wear it or not. I wear it, when I go to the grocery stores, I wear it when I came here, ”he said.
It will be less necessary because more people will get vaccinated like Purkis did. For now, businesses and customers make their own decisions about the best way to protect themselves.
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