While the city of Denton and Dallas County reintroduced a mask mandate to schools and businesses this week, surrounding counties and communities in North Texas have not yet followed suit. In Collin County, Tarrant County, and Denton Counties (out of town), residents are nowhere required to mask themselves except when requested by a company itself.
In the hospitality industry, few local restaurants require masks for customers without a government mandate. Restaurant operators are often at the forefront of enforcing government contracts and many are tired of dealing with customer disputes.
“We’ll obey the law and masks will be required, but everyone wears their war paint,” Mariel Street, co-founder of Liberty Burger, Street’s Fine Chicken and Roy G’s, told The Dallas Morning News. “Restaurants are battlefields now and my 18 year old employees are in charge of enforcing regulations. It’s just ridiculous. “
In Dallas County, masks are compulsory in all shops and restaurants, that is, in all public areas such as lobbies and toilets. You can remove the mask at your table.
But many restaurants that don’t have a mandate choose to focus on protecting their employees instead.
“We put the staff back in masks when the COVID variant heated up,” said Randy DeWitt, CEO of Front Burner Group Dining, which operates restaurants both inside and outside Dallas County.
Whiskey Cake, Ida Claire, Sixty Vines, Mexican Sugar, and Haywire restaurants locations in Dallas County will adhere to the new mask mandate, DeWitt says, but others won’t require masks from customers unless the local government requires it.
Restaurant restaurateur Shannon Wynne, who runs Rodeo Goat, Flying Fish and Miriam Cocina, says they are “breaking in the general public” for wearing masks again in his Dallas County restaurants.
“We have a sign on the door that says there is a district mandate and they must adhere to it,” he says. “However, we do not have the resistance that we initially faced. People are more tolerant and willing to participate. “
However, at his restaurants outside of Dallas, Wynne says they recommend masks for customers but don’t need them. “There is not much we can do. People will just laugh at you, ”he says.
But Wynne firmly believes that all of her employees, both in front of and behind the house, wear masks.
“This time we are trying to really protect our employees, because we cannot afford any bottlenecks,” he says.
Trey Dyer, President and CEO of Mesero Restaurants, also operates locations in and outside of Dallas County.
He says that once the mandate was issued in Dallas County on Wednesday, he bought 100 boxes of masks to keep outside his restaurants.
“Personally, I don’t like being the enforcement of the county,” says Dyer, “and we have a lot of guests who are not happy.”
However, Mesero will require masks from employees and customers in Dallas County restaurants to comply with the order, and employees will be masked in all other locations such as Plano and Fort Worth.
And after moving from Dallas County and the city of Denton, Dyer believes the renewed masking requirements will eventually apply to his other restaurants as well.
Ashley Miller, owner of Mariachi’s Dine-In in Fort Worth, says she definitely doesn’t mind asking customers to wear masks, but she won’t ask for them unless it’s mandated.
“I would like a unilateral response from the Fort Worth dining community. When some of the bigger players lead the way, it’s easier for the rest of us to follow, ”she says.
All of the staff at Mariachi’s are masked, however, and the restaurant has added more extensive take-away options for customers who have recently become more cautious about eating.
“It’s definitely a terrible time for me, especially since we’re so customer centric,” she says. “But we’ve seen a huge influx of people lately using hand sanitizer and wearing masks,” she says.
Some restaurants choose to follow updated CDC guidelines, which recommend indoor masking for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and encouraging customers to mask themselves regardless of a government mandate.
Detour Donuts in Frisco reintroduced a mask policy for customers when the Dallas County’s mandate was announced, even though the donut and cafe are in Denton County where masks are not required.
“It was avoidable, but we’re back,” says owner Jinny Cho. “I have to protect my business. I have to protect my employees. I have to protect my team’s workplaces and ultimately their health. “
She says she no longer cares about customers who refuse to wear a mask in her store. It’s not worth the stress and money, and she decided a long time ago to forego money from people like that, she says.
“I don’t explain myself anymore. I spent a lot of time explaining myself last time. People will definitely be mad, but this time it’s easier for me, ”says Cho. “If you want donuts, mask yourself. I don’t need your opinions. I don’t need your thoughts on that. If you don’t care about our lives, I don’t understand why I am expected to be respectful. “
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