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Restaurants start reopening to a new normal: Here's what to expect

For one, don't expect condiments on the table.

TAMPA, Fla. — As restaurants prepare to reopen for dine-in services, many things have changed.

Customers to Datz Restaurant Group's locations will notice some of them.

“There are no condiments on our tables anymore. Gone are the days of the ketchup bottle that sat on the table," explained Suzanne Perry, co-owner of Datz Restaurant Group which owns Dr. BBQ, Datz Tampa, Datz St. Pete, Datz Riverview, Dough and The Canyon.

These restaurants have changed everything from the way people wait to how customers will eat. Gone, too, is the crowded lobby.

“People can wait in their cars, we can text them," Perry said. “Plastic silverware, for now. For today. So that no one has to worry about, was their silverware handled?”

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Even menus will look different. 

“One-time use menus, and that is a great expense to a restaurant to have to print those," Perry said.

She joined multiple other Tampa restaurant owners on a conference call Sunday afternoon with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. On it, Castor discussed expanding outdoor seating.

“We can seat the sidewalks and the parking lots, and that’s kind of fun. And that was an unexpected bonus," Perry said. "I am going to call it a bonus."

Perry is looking forward to welcoming back customers, and she is doing her best to make sure she does so safely.

"Our top priority is our staff and our customer and their health," Perry said. "And we want to keep the economy moving, but in the safest way that we possibly can.”

Datz Restaurant Group is rolling its seating reopenings to ensure safety. Datz St. Pete and Dr. BBQ will re-open for dine-in service Monday, and Datz in Tampa will open on Tuesday.

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