After nearly a year, bars and taprooms in Maine can reopen for indoor business as of Friday — but many are taking it slow.
Kristina Hansen, co-owner of Roundturn Distilling in Biddeford, says the state has announced, and then pushed back, previous reopening dates.
“And we have to staff back up, bring some people back in, hire some new people, Because we really cut back a lot of our operations over the last year, so gearing back up to normal drink service is something we want to be really careful and mindful of, and something we want to do as safely as possible,” she says.
Hansen adds that the distillery, which is providing curbside sales, plans to open the indoor taproom only once all of its staff are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Like many bar and taproom owners in Maine, Hansen says the state should have given more consideration to workers in public-facing jobs when deciding its eligibility schedule. The taproom, she adds, will reopen on April 21.