BEAUMONT, Texas — It's a happy day for bar owners across the Lone Star State today as they can officially reopen.
Reopening does come with some COVID-19 related restrictions.
With bars in Jefferson County set to reopen Wednesday at 50% capacity bar owners are busy getting ready to welcome customers back.
Bobby Parham, who owns Soggy Bottom Saloon in Beaumont tells 12News he had to get moving quickly last week after hearing Governor Abbott's executive order allowing bars to flip their signs back to "open".
"Honestly, a week ago, I wasn't near as excited as I am today," Parham said on Wednesday.
"I knew there was a ton of planning to get back up opened. You know, I've got one beer truck and he couldn't even get here until tomorrow. I've got customers already here stopping by," Parham said.
Parham is anxious to get back to business but he admits the past few months of not knowing when, or if, the 75-year-oldbar was going to be able to open back up were hard on him and his employees.
"That was the hardest part of it was not knowing nothing at all," he said.
"You know, I couldn't tell my employees anything, couldn't plan on anything... But the bills kept piling in, you know, the bills didn't stop. Our start date was just never mentioned," Parham said Wednesday.
The Soggy Bottom Bar won't officially open until Friday to allow time to do some cleaning, especially after Hurricane Delta.
The alcohol supply also needs to be restocked before people start trickling back in.
