As restaurants begin to reopen dine-in services across the state, some restaurants owners in Brainerd are sticking to curbside pickup and delivery as they continue to wait for more restrictions to be lifted.

Wednesday was the first day that restaurants could begin indoor dining while maintain social distancing, with indoor seating no more than 50% occupancy. While this new phase has its benefits, some restaurant owners in Brainerd say that it’s just not worth it to offer dine-in services at this time.

The Barn is a family-owned restaurant in Brainerd, and workers say that one of the reasons they are not opening their dining area to patrons due to the limited amount of space to safely social distance and the difficulty of paying staff while still making a profit with less customers.

Ryan Nelson is one of the new owners of Brick House Pizza in Brainerd, and he says when he took over the restaurant in April, he wasn’t expecting to be in this situation due to the pandemic.

Brick House Pizza and The Barn are still offering outdoor dining until Gov. Tim Walz announces that restaurants can reopen at full capacity.

By — Chantelle Calhoun