Coronavirus: Maryland restaurant unveils inner tube tables as social distance buffers

OCEAN CITY, Md. — This is no fish tale. A Maryland restaurant, working to ensure social distancing when coronavirus pandemic restrictions are lifted, has devised a different way to keep patrons apart.

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Fish Tales Bar & Grill, in Ocean City, unveiled tables that look like a cross between oversized inner tubes and bumper cars, the Salisbury Daily Times reported. Employees rolled out the tables over the weekend, showing how they will keep patrons 6 feet apart.

“It’s like a bumper boat, but it’s actually a table,” owner Shawn Harmon told the newspaper.

The buffer tables were developed by Revolution Event Design and Production in Baltimore, WTTG reported.

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The concept is simple. A customer stands in the center of the circular table, surrounded by a rubber barrier that keeps them apart from other patrons, the Daily Times reported. The tables are perched on wheels to maximize mobility, the newspaper reported.

Would patrons wheel their tables toward the restrooms and park them if nature calls? That is unclear.

Fish Tales has been providing curbside and carryout service daily since restaurants have been shuttered and are anticipating the time when they can serve customers on the premises again.

“We’ve taken this very seriously from the beginning, and we just want to let everyone know what we’ve done in the interim to make sure that everybody stays safe and Ocean City can stay open,” Harmon said in a social media video.

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