Exton’s Eagleview Town Center will look a little different this weekend.

On Friday, the beloved town square will take on a new look, with some restaurants expanding their outdoor dining options into Wellington Square and adjacent sidewalks. Eagleview Town Center’s management team had been working on plans to close Wellington Square and expand outdoor dining upon entering the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan. However, when he announced the allowance of outdoor dining to occur on June 5 in the yellow phase, the team quickly mobilized and began planning and implementing Exton’s newest al fresco dining experience.

Each restaurant is taking a different approach to the re-opening of outdoor dining. Some are sticking to their tried and true menus, while other are shaking it up a bit.

Eric Yost, head chef at Suburban Restaurant and Beer Garden, is transforming his outdoor area into an island-inspired tiki bar with frozen alcoholic beverages and twists on their classic menu items.

“We’re farm to tiki now!” Yost said. “We are excited to welcome our staff and customers back. So bust out your Hawaiian shirt and island vibes for Suburban Island!”

To enhance the al fresco experience, many restaurants will be featuring live music from local artists on the patio. Restaurants will also continue take-out services for those who wish to order in.

Al Pastor, a favorite in the neighborhood for creative and delicious Mexican cuisine, is looking forward to slowly and safely reopening. Justin Weathers, co-owner of the restaurant, expressed his gratitude for the Exton community.

“This year has thrown us a lot of curve balls and challenges,” he said. “It has shown us we have a lot to be thankful for. We ask everyone to join us as we safely and slowly open back into this new normal. We also want to say thank you so much for the ongoing support and for being such a great community.”

Each restaurant is using Gov. Wolf’s dining guidance to inform the way they will operate and hope that all customers are respectful of each other and participate in social distancing and other safety precautions. The outdoor dining expansion will remain in operations until the restaurants believe it is no longer needed to support their success. While the timeline for this new normal in Eagleview Town Center is unclear, one thing is certain: the community is eager to support its small businesses and restaurants in-person again.

Eagleview residents, who continued to patronize the restaurants and other businesses throughout the pandemic via online shopping and take-out, are looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy dine-in services at their favorite restaurants.

“Being an Eagleview resident since 2013 and a real estate professional who has helped many families find homes here, I can attest that Restaurant Row is a big attraction to living in Eagleview,” said Eagleview resident Lauren Dickerman Covington. “I’m excited for the restaurant owners to have more options in serving their customers and the ability to bring back more staff who have been affected so deeply by this pandemic.”

Click here to learn more and receive the most recent updates about the gradual re-opening of Eagleview Town Center.

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