LONDON, ONT. -- Joe Kool’s, a popular downtown London bar and restaurant, is set to reopen on Friday and is taking a unique approach to filling it’s indoor seating without going over the provincially regulated 50-seat capacity limit.

They have installed cardboard cutouts of people in every other booth to help encourage physical distancing.

Manager Charlie Smith says it’s just a way to continue with the Joe Kool’s tradition.

“When we were spacing all the tables out for the customers, we thought, you know, what can we do to get creative and you know keep the Joe Kool's humour, “ said Smith.

“We thought having these cardboard cutouts of some characters around would kind of lighten the mood.”

Like most establishments downtown, Kool’s closed it’s indoor dining during the March Break.

But they will reopen along with other indoor locales when Stage 3 of the province's COVID-19 response takes effect on Friday.