With summer on the horizon and stay-at-home restrictions easing up, the Gulf Hill Dairy Ice Cream Bucket — popularly known as “The Bucket” — opened for another season on June 13.

Restaurant manager Arthur Domingos said more than 160 people were served on opening day, something he partly attributed to the nice weather and people wanting to get out of their homes after being cooped up for the past few months.

“We probably had our best first day ever,” he said. “If this is the trend, then we are going to have a very good season.”

To slow the spread of the new coronavirus, customers and staff are required to wear masks, and there are signs asking customers to stay six feet apart from each other. Staff also regularly go around disinfecting surfaces and have marked off specific chairs and tables to maintain social distancing.

“We try to keep things clean,” Domingos said. “And so far, we’ve had no problems trying to keep up the cleaning.”

Along with new safety protocols, the town-run ice cream stand has also introduced two new ice cream flavors: peanut butter caramel cookie dough and strawberry crunch cake.

Tracey Alferes, who visits the ice cream stand every year with her husband to catch performances at Apponagansett Park, said she liked the sense of normalcy of being able to eat outside again.

“I’m sick of cooking, even if it’s my husband who does it,” she joked.

Dartmouth resident Kate Burke said she felt the reopening was a great way to see some friends while remaining socially distanced.

“We love coming to the Bucket,” she said. “This certainly helps bring the best out of the bad situation this whole pandemic has been.”