Fort Myers Beach restaurants optimistic as customers slowly return

It’s now been over a week since Fort Myers Beach reopened to the public, and people are enjoying it.

Businesses are also back open and ready to make their comeback. Some restaurants are going the extra mile to protect you.

At Yucatan on Fort Myers Beach, manager Leah Lynch says, “I messaged my boss the first day I was back behind the bar, and I was like, I know it was really slow but it feels really good to have something that was somewhere to what was normal before.”

Business is slowly coming back.

With hand sanitizer stations at every corner and employees wearing masks and gloves, Lynch says her restaurant has many extra precautions in place, “We’ve just been running 25% in both so we only put out a quarter of our tables … We taped the ground 6 feet apart from each table that way we know that there’s still 6 feet apart.”

Over at Plakas in Times Square, employees spray down tables after every guest.

Owner steve Maillakakis even put up signs encouraging social distancing.

“We’ve been sanitizing all the tables pre and after,” Maillakakis explained. “All the condiments, napkins, placemats, menus all one-time use only.”

Across the bridge at Doc Fords, they’re using similar tactics, and they’re also screening employees.

“Each shift in every shift change as employees come in we do a wellness check and we also have the temperature gadgets that we read temperatures for employees coming in for a shift,” said Joe Harrity with Doc Fords.

And as more people continue to venture out, these owners say they’ll remain vigilant so you can stay safe.

Many of the restaurants we spoke with say they got a lot of traffic this past weekend. They’re hoping once hotels open on Friday, it’ll pick up even more.