BEAUMONT, Texas — Masks are no longer on the menu at some Texas restaurants. They're fully embracing the fact that state mandates ended Wednesday, but restaurant-goers can expect to continue to mask-up at many other places.
At some popular Beaumont shopping plazas on Wednesday, about half of the people seen out-and-about were without a mask. Although the statewide mask mandate has been lifted, some local businesses and restaurants might have their own rules.
"We're going to be encouraging our customers to, you know, to wear 'em. Our employees are still going to wear masks, but we're no longer going to enforce any sort of mask policy," said Josh Tortorice, Rao’s Bakery manager.
Those are the rules at Rao’s. Employees are required to wear masks, but customers are not. Tortorice said it's been a tough ten months he, and his staff has had a lot of confrontations, some turning heated, with customers refusing to wear their masks.
RELATED: LIST: Southeast Texas businesses' mask policies now that the mask order has ended
"We have had people screaming, yelling at 17-year-old kids because we're asking them to follow a state and a county mandate," Tortorice said.
Tortorice said it's a relief that the statewide mask mandate has been lifted.
"Heck yeah, we're so...we're thrilled,” Tortorice said. “When we heard it was lifted, and it's not about wear a mask, not wear a mask, I'm not taking either position. I'm only taking the position that I don't want to be the police officer at the front door."
Further down Dowlen Road at Stage Hair Design, the hair salon is back open at 100 percent capacity and is no longer requiring its customers or employees to wear masks.
"If the clients want us to wear a mask, we're going to wear 'em to just make them feel comfortable," Alexis Walker said.
Walker works at on stage and says it feels weird walking around the salon without a mask on.
But she says they're continuing to take the proper precautions even at full capacity.
"We're sanitizing, cleaning everything so I think it'll be good," Walker said.
RELATED: 'Opening Texas 100%': Gov. Abbott rescinds statewide face mask order, business restrictions
