Local business reopens dining area to customers

The Mom and Pop’s Soul Food Kitchen and Barbecue announced last week that their dining area has reopened to the public. Since then, business has been slowly, but surely.

““We were very cautious. We just wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing. We found in the last few weeks--I say maybe two or three weeks, business has picked up. It goes by--I guess the customer’s need,” said Owner Dennis Huggins.

After Governor Tate Reeves gave the green light to reopen businesses a few months back, the restaurant decided to keep their dining room closed for the safety of customers. During the closure, takeout and drive-thru services were still available. It was not until the restaurant started to see more travelers on the road when they decided to reopen their dining doors.

“We noticed that there were people driving up from out of town and they wanted to come in so we made a decision when we saw many were traveling and really wanted to come and sit down, especially when it started getting cooler.”

The rules to enter are very simple--masks must be worn and seating is at six feet capacity. Seating is also available outside for customers to dine.

“We have a COVID-19 spray that the CDC has required for restaurants and we put shields up in front of our line. We don’t put food out as a precaution for this virus.”