The Dunleavy administration is giving some Alaska eateries the green light to re-open amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but some Upper Lynn Canal restaurant owners say they’re sticking with take-out for now.

Empty tables at the Alpenglow pizzeria in Haines. (Stremple/KHNS)

It won’t be business as usual for the restaurants that choose to open up this week. State health authorities say dining rooms must operate at a quarter of capacity and keep 10 feet between tables. That’s among other restrictions, which will be enforceable by up to $1,000 in fines for violations.

The relaxed restrictions begin Friday morning, but local restaurateurs say they’re going with a wait-and-see approach before reopening their establishments to diners.

“I’m really conflicted,” said Haines pizzeria owner Cambria Goodwin.

“But my gut instinct is like, it feels really dumb to do.”

She’s been offering slices and pies to go out of her downtown restaurant for several weeks now. But she says inviting diners back inside seems risky from a health perspective and untenable from an economic one.

“There’s a reason we have this many tables and it’s because you need to have this many turns in this many seats to fill the night for anything to pencil out. And at 25 percent in an already hurting, kind of scary situation, it just doesn’t seem to pencil out and be worth it,” Goodwin said.

Other restaurants are also staying closed to diners. The Haines Borough had not released any guidance for businesses by Thursday afternoon and did not comment. The Skagway Borough will allow the openings, but restaurateurs in Skagway say they’re not ready yet.

“Even though we’re hurting financially, we still think that it’s too soon to open up and we’re just going to kind of wait and see what happens for the safety of all,” said Jeffrey Hitt, who owns a Thai restaurant in Skagway. Hitt said her restaurant will continue to offer delivery and curbside pickup. Several other local eateries are taking this same approach. A cafe owned by Tobias Parsons is among them.

“We kind of want to see what’s going on with it and other communities and just make sure that we can offer something that’s safe,” he said.

Parsons said he might start taking reservations later, but he feels it’s too soon to tell.