The dining room at Las Margaritas in Munford, in Tipton County almost 10 miles past the Shelby County line, was sparsely populated at lunch April 27. But for the first time in more than a month, folks were eating their meals inside.

It was the first time I’ve been inside a restaurant in 45 days.

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Lori Cross drove from Shelby County for the $6.99 all-you-can-eat lunch.

“We’ve been dying for Mexican food,” she said. “We usually go to the Margaritas in Millington, but of course, we couldn’t do that.”

Millington is in Shelby County, one of the six counties in the state able to set its own timetable for reopening; the other 89 counties have their shelter-in-place restrictions lifted this week and started reopening today.

The restaurant is one of about 20 owned by Jose Flores; there are at least four in Shelby County and another under development in Memphis’ Cooper Young neighborhood.

“We are seating only every other table, have a hand sanitizer station, everyone (who works at the restaurant) is wearing a mask and gloves, and we’re taking temperatures,” Flores said.

Upon entering the restaurant, the hostess — wearing a mask colorfully embroidered with “Las Margaritas”— aimed a laser thermometer at my forehead. I asked her what my temperature was; I could see the hint of a smile under the mask as she shrugged:

“Ninety. I’m not sure how it works yet.”

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Eating in a restaurant was something I did about five times a week, maybe more frequently, before March 20, with little thought to how many things I touched. I’m a communal eater, offering a bite from my plate, reaching to another. But those days are gone.

I was immediately aware of all the places my hands would touch, starting with the door handle — I grabbed it with my sweater.

At the table I made sure to slide in the booth without putting my hands on the seat. I wondered whether I really needed salt on my chips — was it worth the touch?

I used a straw to drink my water, something I wouldn’t normally do. I counted, and there were 15 things I touched with my hands from the time I arrived until I left:

The door handle, chips basket, salsa carafe, salsa bowl, menu, salt shaker (yes, I needed it), straw, water glass, two knives, fork, plate (way too hot for germs to live on it!), pen, my credit card (handled by someone else), and my receipt.

I made multiple trips to the hand sanitizer station and felt a little nervous, even a little paranoid. Then a fellow customer who wouldn’t give me his name told me he’d feel more comfortable if I would take off my mask, and coronavirus is just a way for Bill Gates to get control of the world. Gates and “you know who.”

I didn’t know, I didn’t ask, and I’m not paranoid. It’s prudent to be cautious.

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Flores was there, wearing an N95 mask and chiding someone who wasn’t: “What, you don’t think you can get sick? Man, you need to be careful.”

Of course, you can’t eat with a mask on, so in a restaurant, you’re going to be mask-free part of the time. The restaurant is large, with seating for about 200 and about 25 people, including front of the house employees, were there at lunchtime. Social distancing was easy.

Noe Rodriguez is Flores’ right-hand man, the general manager of all the restaurants. He said they opened five restaurants today: Margaritas in Munford, Oakland and Covington; El Presidente in Covington; and Cancun in Somerville.

“It’s not crowded anywhere,” he said. “That’s OK. It gives us time to get everything right. Things are different. We’re all wearing masks, gloves, sanitizing everything on the tables after every customer. We’re not having parties larger than six at a table. Don’t even think about seven.”

Cross told me she was surprised not to see more diners.

“There’s a lot less people than I expected,” she said. “But everyone has their own opinion on whether they think it’s safe, and I respect that.”