Restaurants around Wareham are finally reopening their doors after months of closure due to the pandemic, and diners are rushing to fill newly constructed patios and favorite outdoor restaurant decks. 

Phase two of Baker’s plan for reopening Massachusetts allows outdoor dining at restaurants, retailers to open their stores at a reduced capacity, along with outdoor amateur sports, some postsecondary and vocational skills, and some childcare facilities and day camps.

Cheri Lindsey, the owner of Lindsey’s Family Restaurant, will begin seating customers at her newly constructed outdoor dining area on Thursday night. 

She constructed the space from scratch in two weeks, as her boyfriend Bill Pabst and brother Joe Chiaraluce built everything except the chairs, including the tables, stylish partitions, and planters with dividers on wheels to screen the back of the restaurant from view. 

The team worked with Trevor of Trevors gallery in Onset for design help, and transformed five parking spaces into a patio that can safely seat forty customers with six feet between each table. 

Lindsey said that she works hard to be a very proactive business owner, as she quickly pivoted to curbside pick-up at the beginning of the pandemic, and worked to quickly set up an outdoor dining space once she read the governor’s guidelines. That kind of work is what has allowed her business to survive (and thrive) for 40 years.

The patio -- which will become a permanent feature of the restaurant -- opens on Thursday, weather permitting. Lindsey’s will be open from noon to 8 or 9 p.m. to start. To make a reservation, call 508-759-5544.

Joe Sauro, the owner of the Gateway Tavern, had a leg up on reopening due to his business’ pre-existing decks. 

To be able to seat even more customers safely, Sauro has put up a large tent in the restaurant’s parking lot with tables of varying sizes. 

“The phone’s been ringing off the hook for reservations tonight,” Sauro said on June 8, the first day outdoor dining was allowed. “I’m excited. I’m hoping we can get back to serving indoors before the next phase.”

Sauro said he was “very happy to see” that all of his employees were eager to return to work. 

To start, he plans to open the tavern from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with the possibility of staying open later if there are enough night-owl customers to justify it. 

Madison Patterson and Kristina Barounis were enjoying drinks and fried pickles on the tavern’s back deck Monday -- their first restaurant outing in months.

“We came up, and our plan was to go out for drinks and have a nice meal at a restaurant,” Barounis said. “It feels good to see people and be outside.”

Indoor dining may be allowed to resume later in phase two, while bars will not be able to open until phase four.