By Ryan Magill
With new COVID-19 and mask guidelines in New York many on the East End of Long Island have been able to breathe sighs of relief as businesses begin to return to normal.
Lucharitos, a Mexican restaurant with locations in Greenport, Riverhead and Center Moriches, has finally opened its Center Moriches location. Although COVID-19 wasn’t the only thing that affected the business, the 2017 government shutdown also stalled their construction plans.. However, as of June 7th, it announced that mask mandates were no longer in effect for vaccinated customers, which will allow it to start heading towards pre-pandemic normalcy at all its locations.
The restaurant’s Facebook page read, “We have patiently waited to get to this point. We appreciate all of our team members and customers for getting us this far with minimal issue. We will continue to do all the little things to keep our locations sanitized and safe.”
Even some businesses that opened during the pandemic have now found their way and are enjoying the new mask rules. The Clam Man Seafood Market in Southampton opened during the early stages of the pandemic and struggled to get into form. But now, a year later, they are thriving having navigated the rough waters.
Some businesses, however, still have pandemic-style rules in place for safety precautions. One of which is the flagship location for Tate’s Cookies in Southampton.The store is currently open for curbside pickup and in-store shopping, however, they are only allowing 8 customers in the store at a time.
Many more small businesses across the East End have either stayed with their mask requirements or dropped them altogether. But with the world seemingly returning to normal, many are just excited to go to their favorite businesses again.