Tulsa Bars Band Together To Create Safe Environment For Reopening

Bar owner Aaron Post is back to mixing cocktails in the Tulsa arts district.

Post, who owns Valkyerie downtown, re-opened his bar last Friday, a couple of weeks after he was officially allowed to with Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan.

Post says they wanted to wait to see how other bars did it and collect more data. "We took a couple of weeks to get really prepared for it," he said.

He also leaned on advice from some of his competition -  the other bar owners he's friends with in downtown. "At least with my closest colleagues, we figured out that the onus for the ethical decision making on how we operate our business was on our shoulders so we decided to kind of band together and set a standard for what those policies and procedures would be," said Post.

For example, at Valkyerie, Post is requiring all guests to wear a mask when entering and while walking around the bar. They will have masks available for those who don't have one. They're also spacing groups out, and limiting capacity to about 35 people instead of the usual 80, and using QR codes for menus.

"We realize that we can't provide a completely risk free environment,” Post said. “But we can do a lot to mitigate the risk."

Other downtown owners Post is friends with are taking similar precautions with a common goal – to keep people safe. "We decided that we did not want to be contributing to a major outbreak," said Post.