UPDATED: 05/21/22 12:33 p.m.
St. Petersburg’s Green Bench Brewing Co. is reopening on Friday, May 22, with some new rules and regulations.
It starts with new hours; the tasting room is takeout only from noon to 2 p.m., but the public can start to visit at 2 p.m. until Green Bench, located at 1133 Baum Ave N., closes at 10 p.m.
The brewery opens again at noon on Saturday and Sunday, and closes at 10 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
Beers will be served from a single file line and inside of a single use plastic cup. The new main entrance will also be through Green Bench’s beer garden, so that staff can monitor the number of people onsite.
"All of this is only possible because of the new order from Pinellas county allowing breweries to open if they maintain CDC recommended operations and have food available on-site," Nathan Stonecipher, owner of Green Bench, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in an email, adding that a food truck will be on site.
The Pinellas order went out on Tuesday, but Stonecipher said Green Bench waited until Friday to clean even more and dial in a new operational structure.
"Going forward, we'll assess where we're at every couple of weeks and change operations as needed, or as required," Stonecipher added.
What’s more is that Green Bench has eliminated all bar seating and most seating indoors. A social media post encourages customers to use the “plentiful seating under the covered patio, beer garden, and outside of Webb’s City both upstairs and downstairs.”
“For those of you who will be hitting the Beer Garden, just keep yourselves spread out from other parties,” Green Bench wrote, alluding to the CDC’s recommendation of staying six-feet away from the next closest human.
“We will be following all CDC guidelines, our staff will be wearing masks, and sanitizing consistently,” Green Bench added.
As an added perk, all package product is 20% off to take home, and Green Bench’s online ordering is still going strong. Webb’s City remains closed.
And, yes, well-behaved dogs are allowed to come with you.
Green Bench joins nearby Cage Brewing, which recently reopened on Tuesday with a food truck on site. Clearwater’s Big Storm Brewing and St. Pete’s 3 Daughters—which both serve food—are already open as well. Jam Dish is slinging Jamaican food at Green Bench.
Even without the Pinellas brewery order, a caveat in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest “Full Phase One” reopening order says that breweries could reopen if they have a restaurant onsite like Coppertail and TBBCo. in Tampa.
DeSantis’ original order allowing restaurants to reopen at 25% capacity said bars, pubs and nightclubs that earn more than 50% of gross revenue from the alcohol sales of alcoholic beverages would have to continue to suspend on-site consumption.
All social distancing guidelines still stand, and any brewery open must only operate at 50% of its indoor capacity. Parties of more than 10 people are disallowed.
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This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2020.