LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Lexington restaurants are preparing their spaces to keep their outdoor seating during the winter months.
Since the shutdown in the spring to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Mirror Twin Brewing Company's entire operations have changed.
"We run full service like a restaurant now. Our bartenders, you know there's no bar service, so they go straight out to the tables and they wait on the tables personally. You have to be seated by a host," Mirranda Hubbs, Director of Operations, said.
Mirror Twin has added 20 picnic tables, which is about 120 seats, to their outdoor area. The addition transforms a portion of what used to be a parking lot in between the two buildings. With cooler air coming, the Lexington brewery is thinking ahead on how to keep the outdoor seating area.
"We've looked at the options of getting a tent with some heaters. The only issue with that is we don't know the rules and what's going to happen in the winter. So, can we put walls? Can we not? How many tables can go in there?" Hubbs said.
While, at least right now, there is no number restriction on the outdoor seating and the indoor seating is at a 50 percent capacity. There's no way to predict the rules for the winter.
"How is outside seating going to be treated once there is a tent? Would that seating be affected by the number restriction? what's inside going to look like? You know, hopefully, the restriction goes back to 100%," Chris Grissom, Bar Supervisor, said.
Mirror Twin says while they've changed the way they do things, it's all for the best.
"That balance of doing what's best for our business, the employees and keeping people safe. Whether it's our staff, whether it's our customers, we realize that if we don't keep people safe, what's the point of doing all of this," Mirror Twin Co-Founder Derek Defranco said.
