Chicago and suburban Cook County are officially open for indoor dining for the first time since late October under coronavirus pandemic restrictions, officials said Saturday morning.
The announcement that the two regions have moved to Tier 1 means restaurants will reopen for indoor service — but at 25% capacity or 25 people per space, whichever is fewer. Bars and restaurants opening for indoor service will also be held to a raft of other restrictions.
According to guidelines, tables will be limited to no more than four people indoors or six people outdoors. Diners must wear a face covering except with seated and eating or drinking, and they must put it back on when interacting with servers, under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s August rules. The Tier 1 restrictions also state tables must be spaced 6 feet apart; indoor service will be limited to a maximum of two hours; and bars and restaurants must close by 11 p.m. Bars that do not serve food cannot go back to indoor service yet.
The restrictions on indoor dining and bar service are rules that have been widely flouted, though Chicago has issued some citations.
“We have long pushed for the careful resumption of limited indoor dining, and I am thrilled that we have made enough progress in the fight against COVID-19 to reopen our businesses and bring workers back,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote in a Saturday statement.
At the new Pilsen Yards restaurant on 18th Street, only five indoor tables were filled Saturday because of the 25% capacity rule. But to managing partner Paul Abu-Taleb, that was better than the 0% allowed just one day earlier.
Already, the weekend’s indoor reservations were booked, he said, as customers seated both inside and outdoors in the heated patio awaited plates of breakfast burritos and concha toast as well as bloody mary cocktails.
Originally slated to open last June, Pilsen Yards’ opening date was delayed until November due to the coronavirus pandemic. But by the fall, indoor dining had once again shuttered in Chicago, pushing the restaurant team to install measures such as a heated concrete floor in the backyard patio before opening Jan. 15.
“We’re in a health crisis, and we have to be creative in how we make that work,” Abu-Taleb said.
He said indoor dining’s comeback not only means more financial stability for restaurants and bars but also an opportunity for patrons to connect outside of their homes.
“It’s great to see the energy of a restaurant coming back,” Abu-Taleb said. “It’s great to see the hospitality industry in Chicago get a breath of fresh air and some good news.”
Massimo Di Vuolo, owner and manager of Italian restaurant Due Lire in Lincoln Square, said he has missed the camaraderie of serving and chatting with diners. He briefly set up outdoor dining in November but shut down the next month because it was too cold.
“We were very happy,” Di Vuolo said on hearing the announcement. “It’s being together and being with the customers, face to face and having be able to talk to them. … That’s the part that makes business exciting and makes business life romantic. It’s not just about cooking food.”
Di Vuolo expected Saturday’s news after following Chicago’s improving metrics this week, preparing his restaurant with a deep clean and rearranged dining tables, but he said it was important to follow the limitations so COVID-19 doesn’t spread.
For Laura Cervantes, owner of Paco’s Tacos in Brighton Park, it was business as usual Saturday morning after the announcement. Her restaurant has not had indoor dining since the first stay-at-home order in March, and she is unsure of when she will reopen service beyond takeout.
Cervantes said although her business has suffered, the takeout orders have remained popular enough to keep her afloat. She fears her restaurant would get too crowded during the weekends, when customers pick up the restaurant’s famed carnitas, barbacoa and chicharron by the pound, should she begin to allow diners.
“It’ll just get too crazy, having people sitting there, eating, and people walking around. No. That’s why we’ve been very conservative in that sense,” Cervantes said. “We can’t help the world, but we could help each other.”
Restaurants aren’t the only businesses to benefit from the rollback of restrictions. Among other loosened rules, gyms and fitness centers could reopen with 50% capacity limits and other public health precautions in place, and indoor and outdoor gatherings can be as large as 25 people or 25% capacity, whichever is fewer.
To qualify for eased restrictions, each of the 11 regions in Pritzker’s plan must meet three benchmarks: test positivity rate below 8% for three consecutive days; available intensive care unit and medical bed capacity greater than or equal to 20% for three consecutive days; and no sustained increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
If a region experiences a sustained resurgence of COVID-19, then it may return to stricter measures, the department said.
Nick Gangas, managing partner of Steak and Vine in suburban La Grange, said he has tried to be a “team player” during the pandemic and took away stools at the bar so patrons would not interact so closely with staff, among other measures. Since indoor dining shuttered, the restaurant has lost money, making Saturday’s news a “relief,” he said.
“You get into this business because you love people,” Gangas said. “Even the first time we were allowed to reopen, we all looked at each other with such joy. It’s just such a wonderful feeling to be able to take care of customers again.”
But with the virus still present, Gangas said the return of indoor dining must be approached with caution. “It depends on everybody sticking to the plan.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com
