LANCASTER, Pa. — As of Sunday Pennsylvania bars and restaurants that self-certify can serve up to 75 capacity for the first time in more than a year, up from the previous 50 percent capacity limit.
Patrons can now sit at the bar and order alcohol after 11 p.m. and without food.
Chris Long of Lancaster celebrated Easter by sitting down at the bar of Yorgos, a Greek restaurant near his house. He donned a headband of Easter bunny ears.
“It’s not about having drinks somewhere. I just like sitting at a bar somewhere, being able to converse,” Long said. “It’s just not the same as sitting in the corner somewhere.”
Yorgos’s owner George Katsaros said he expected more patrons in the coming days to dine in his three-story restaurant.
“Last week everybody was happy, can’t wait for it to open up,” he said. “Everybody likes to sit at the bar. They miss the bar.”
Yorgos has been able to survive on takeout, Katsaros said, but it’s much less income than before the pandemic. Not being able to serve the usual lunch crowd or hold large events has taken a financial toll. Even so, he said he understood the need for mitigation measures.
Customers like Young were more impatient to reopen completely.
“I just think that we need to move forward in a way that these businesses can survive and come back,” Young said. “The hard part is a lot of them aren’t going to be able to.”
A fifth of restaurant operators surveyed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association (PRLA) said they would “probably” or “definitely” not survive the next three months.
“Hopefully we will see those restaurants coming back but there’s definitely going to be a loss of restaurants,” said John Longstreet, PRLA president and CEO.
As the days get longer, though, restaurant owners said they could see the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter with the hope that more customers can return soon.
“Life is very important,” Katsaros said. “Business you can make anytime. Money can come anytime. Everybody’s safe and I think in another couple of months everybody will come back all days.”
Capacity limits also rose to 75 percent for gyms and entertainment businesses like casinos, malls and theaters.