From WHDH up in Boston:

A highly-rated restaurant says it plans to fill empty tables with mannequins to make social distancing rules less awkward when customers are allowed to return.

The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, plans to open for dinner on May 29 and it could start welcoming guests for half-capacity outdoor seating as early as Friday when coronavirus restrictions are eased, according to Eater Washington DC.

When the restaurant gets the green light to start serving customers inside its dining room, chef Patrick O’Connell plans to seat empty tables with mannequins, the news outlet reported.

O’Connell says the mannequins will be decked out in vintage, 1940s-style outfits.

That doesn’t sound creepy at all.

Imagine you’re enjoying a nice night with your goat cheese salad and Peruvian ceviche, then you look over your shoulder and see this:

We’ll see if the idea catches on. Maybe they’ll do this down at Geno’s and Pat’s. You swing by to get your cheesesteak, and sitting at one of the tables is a mannequin with a Donovan McNabb jersey, sweat pants, and white New Balance sneakers. It would be the authentic South Philly experience, but slightly unnerving.