Some Beaufort County restaurants illegally allowed dine-in patrons, sheriff says
Some businesses in Beaufort County illegally allowed patrons to dine in on Wednesday after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster banned those services, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Thursday.
On Tuesday, McMaster ordered restaurants and bars to close their dining rooms and offer only meals to go. Tanner said Thursday that the order applies to dining indoors and outdoors.
Several restaurants and bars on Hilton Head Island, in Bluffton and Beaufort did not follow the order and continued serving customers dining on their premises Wednesday night, Tanner said.
“We had some licensed locations that were either unfamiliar with the executive order or just wanted to test it to see if we were going to check it,” Tanner said.
Deputies checked on the restaurants, explained the executive order and issued warnings to the owners, Tanner said.
“So, we’re looking for voluntary compliance. I think at this point we have it, but we’ll continue to look at that as a potential problem and deal with it as it comes up,” he said.
If restaurants or bars continue to allow customers to dine in, they will be ticketed, he said.
Tanner did not say which restaurants or bars failed to follow the order.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 5:55 PM.
