NEW ORLEANS — Now that Louisiana's businesses are cautiously welcoming customers back into their locations, this means some of the most popular restaurants in the South are, once again, open for business.

Among these eateries is Café du Monde in New Orleans' famous French Quarter, a shop where locals and visitors alike can indulge in some of the best beignets in the region. 

According to WWL-TV, the restaurant is facing a few challenges as it reopens on Tuesday, May 19. 

The world-famous coffee stand bounced back from a previous disaster, but this time, the owners face unprecedented challenges. 

President of Café du Monde, Jay Roman says the first priority must be the employees. He has to make sure they’ll be safe and then offer enough pay, something he admits can be tough when federal stimulus and unemployment can outweigh what most service industry workers normally earn. 

"We looked at ways to help people, but the CARES act did more than anyone could’ve imagined, so now our focus has changed to working with people so they can come back to work and still preserve that benefit that they’re getting,” Roman said. 

The next priority is offering a safe environment for customers.

"Then you start figuring out the formulas to which doors to open first and how many hours, and how many people you can have and table placements and the list just goes on and on," Roman said. 

The family recently opened up the stand in City Park. Roman said they were able to hire a limited number of workers to open the stand for take-out only, which filled the demand for Café au lait and beignets. 

"When we had a our first beignet out at City Park a couple of weeks ago, it was just to have that smell and the sensory feeling, it was great," he said. 

Of course, it’ll be great to have that same experience at the mother ship and the other locations in the metro area, where for now, the chairs are the ones that are sitting.

Roman and his crew don't expect long lines as soon as they reopen the French Quarter location, but they do expect foot traffic to pick up as the pandemic continues to die down. 

"I don’t see a line for a while, but at least, all I’m looking for is life. After we get life, then we can worry about a line," Roman said. 

The reopening of the iconic cafe indicates that despite the devastating impact of the impact, New Orleans, and Louisiana as a whole, has not lost sight of its identity and culture.