AUSTIN, Texas — May 22 can’t come soon enough for many Texas bars that have been shuttered for the last two months.

Roger Rozell, co-owner of The Iron Bear, plans to open at 11 a.m. on Friday. Rozell said it’s been especially difficult for the downtown Austin gay bar, having moved into a new location earlier this year.

“We actually closed our 8th Street location the first of January,” said Rozell. “So we were closed for two months and then the pandemic hit.”

The bar couldn’t cut it in the takeout business. Rozell said they did to-go orders for about two weeks, but the amount the bar was bringing in was barely enough to keep the lights on. The decision was eventually made to shut down altogether.

Austin bar and restaurant mogul, Bob Woody said his bars including The Blind Pig, The Ranch and several others, will open at midnight Friday morning in order to be some of the first drinking establishments to reopen in the Capital City.

Last month, Woody draped two cloth signs outside The Blind Pig urging Governor Greg Abbott to allow Texas bars to reopen. The board member of the Texas Bar and Nightclub Alliance said he eventually worked with the state to help make that a reality.

“I’ve worked directly with the strike force, and we’ve helped determine the guidelines with which to open. I provided those to them more than a month ago,” said Woody.

The rules include operating at 25 percent capacity and removing bar stools to discourage patrons from standing around. While mask wearing will be encouraged, Woody said he won’t turn away patrons that don’t want to wear one inside. Woody has markers placed on the sidewalk outside The Blind Pig to encourage folks waiting in line to social distance; door staff will provide hand sanitizer as well as check patrons for any visible signs of illness.

“If they look sick or if they look drunk, we’re not letting them in. That’s how we work already on the drunk part,” said Woody.

While the 25 percent rule applies to the enclosed portion of his business, Woody claims that doesn’t apply to the open-air patio upstairs at The Blind Pig. However, Woody said there will still be enforcement of social distancing rules.

“The answer is you have to have additional staff that’s kind of running interference on the customer base saying ‘Look, you can’t pull tables together. You can’t pull your stool over here and join these folks. You just can’t do that,’” said Woody.

Rozell plans to take it a step further, with door staff doing temperature checks, requiring masks to be worn in between eating or drinking and Rozell says they will offer a free mask to customers without one.

Unfortunately, Rozell has a feeling his employees may take some flak for the stringent rules, but he said the bar is simply trying to make sure they won’t be receiving a visit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

“We have to follow rules, that means they’ve got to follow rules too,” said Rozell. “So our staff is prepared. We’ve had a meeting on this, and we’ll just have to ask somebody if they cannot follow the rules, they have to leave.”

For Woody, he said his staff has experience dealing with unruly customers, but he hopes those unwilling to play by the rules won’t even make it inside.

“We typically identify those people at the front door,” said Woody.

However, both owners don’t expect too many people at the front door this weekend, even with it being a holiday weekend. They’re hopeful though that their clientele will eventually return in full force.

“We’ve got a very loyal clientele and I think they want to see us succeed,” said Rozell. “We’re excited to be back, and we hope they’re excited to come back. They just need to follow the rules now.”