OKEMOS, MICHIGAN - Brighter days are ahead for Meridian Township restaurants as Governor Whitmer announced that restaurants may open for dine in service starting June 8. There is a list of loosened restrictions such as a 50% capacity for dining rooms, maintaining social distancing protocols and a higher standard for general cleaning requirements. Most restaurants having been chomping at the bit for this day, but there are a select few that are keeping their dining rooms closed for now. Here is a list of some of the restaurants ready to provide you with a dine in experience we’ve all missed:

1. Stateside Deli & Restaurant in Okemos opened Monday, June 8, and is known for their Detroit take on breakfast, brunch and lunch. Staff members are thrilled to be back in action serving their community.

“Stateside Deli is opening up better than ever! We are taking extra safety precautions and steps sanitizing and cleaning for our customers!” said Manager, Steven Soka.

They are also celebrating the opening of a new location in Birmingham, which is a great excuse for a road trip.

2. Mayfair Bar in Haslett opened Monday, June 8 at 11am and their rooftop and patio opened at 4pm. Mayfair is asking that party sizes are limited to 10 people or less.

3. Saddle Sack in Okemos dining services opened June 8. Saddle Sack is requiring reservations for food orders and payments over the phone to limit contact with credit cards and menus.

4. Grand Traverse Pie Company in Okemos is welcoming customers for dine-in Monday, June 8th. All dining room, outside and patio seating are available at limited capacity.

5. Old Chicago in Okemos opened June 8, at 4pm for dining and bar seating with a modified menu.

6. Burgdorf’s Winery in Okemos is opening their dining room Tuesday, June 9, and will be introducing their New Winery Experience!

“We are offering 12 wines to choose from that change weekly for your wine flight. We are changing from 1oz pours to 2oz pours so our customers can enjoy them for a little longer and for social distancing purposes, so they don’t have to have it refilled as often,” said Owner, Deborah Burgdorf.

The Burgdorf’s tasting room is open as well with some adjustments.

“Tasting room is a little on the smaller side, with a limited capacity, we are having people wear masks and if they want to have a glass of wine or a flight, they can enjoy our accommodations outside. We aren’t not having our cheese and crackers platter just yet but, soon!” said Burgdorf.

7. Olive Garden in Okemos opened their doors to the public Monday, June 8. They have their full menu and are ready to provide the community with the famous Olive Garden bread sticks!

8. Applebee’s Grill + Bar in Okemos welcomed customers back into their dining room with half off appetizers on Monday, June 8.

While Meridian Township is slowly preparing to re-open, some food services are not ready just yet. Here’s the list:

1. Asian Buffet in Okemos is not open for dine-in and are taking steps to ensure customer’s safety.

“We have the buffet to-go for now, we have two hot bars with about 30 items and that’s charged by weight,” said Manager Henry Kwok.

2. Bread Bites in Okemos is not opening for another two weeks (at least).

“We have decided to keep our dine-in and patio closed temporarily for your safety and ours. We understand how difficult these times are for us all. That’s why we want to gradually work our way to open the dine-in/patio within the next 2 weeks or so,” according to a post on Bread Bites Facebook page on June 7.

3. Maru Sushi in Okemos will not be opening their doors despite loosened restrictions.

“We've decided to wait until we are certain we can ensure the safety and wellness of our guests and employees. We’ve been working on our reopening plan, and prior to opening our doors, it’s important to us that we can effectively prioritize everyone’s safety. We aren’t quite sure of a date yet but hope to have more answers in the next few weeks,” according to a post on Maru’s Facebook page on June 5.

4. Thai Princess in Okemos say they are unable to provide dine-in service until restrictions are fully lifted.

With the updated restrictions from Governor Whitmer, Thai Princess would only be allowed to have three tables available. Thai Princess is using this time to organize their inventory and institute effective cleaning protocols.
“Until we can open 100% capacity, we are doing take-out only. All of our customers understand this since the beginning of March when we started doing it,” said Manager, Thao Wan.

5. Culvers in Okemos will not be opening for dine-in service as of yet and did not provide a projected time of reopening.

6. Cheezy D’s Deli & Dogs in Haslett is a brand-new business in town whose goal is to give the traditional hot dog a whole new meaning! They are waiting for final health inspections to be approved and hope to be opening their dining room by the end of the week.

Businesses in Meridian Township are thrilled to be opening and welcoming customers back to their dining rooms, now and in the very near future.