LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Restaurant managers say today's announcement from the governor's office caught them by surprise.
"Limited mitigation orders that went into effect on December 12 will expire as planned. On January 4 at 8 a.m.," Governor Tom Wolf announced in a virtual news conference.
Wayne Schwartz, the manager of Uncle Buck's BBQ in Plymouth, was not expecting the Governor to stick to his plan.
Rather he thought he would be extending his restrictions.
"We absolutely expected that that would be the case," said Schwartz. "That the numbers are still up after everybody celebrating and getting together, so it's a relief that he's lifting them."
Especially since the restrictions put in place on December 12 hit his restaurant hard.
"Kitchen staff, everybody's hours cut obviously because it wasn't as busy," explained Schwartz. "Especially the service staff. I mean they got their financial situation pulled out from underneath them without even a notice, and you know there was no time to collect for Christmas there's, you know, single parents that, you know, are working on the side, so it was really hard and devastating with some people."
But the Governor says this isn't an end to all restrictions, just an end to those put in place on December 12.
"The mask-wearing requirements? That stays. Gathering limits based on venue size? That stays. Business capacity limits? That stays and restaurants self-certification, all those things stay in place," said Wolf.
Uncle Buck's says they'll be ready to welcome back diners next week and do everything they can to make it as safe as possible.
"We'll have to do a deep cleaning one more time and get everything ready and, you know, make sure the staff is healthy, and we've done all we can. We have hand sanitizer on all the tables. We have a digital thermometer that we temperature all the workers that come in and if we have to do the customers as well. And, you know, just keep it clean and do what you can. For right now, till we get through this," said Schwartz.
The lifting of the indoor dining ban also came as good news to James Bolus and Matt Mark, the men who own and operate Backwoods Kitchen in Franklin Township.
"That's exciting, we're gonna get our patrons back indoor dining, and we don't really have outdoor setup for the cold, so it's gonna be really helpful for us to get our clientele back," said Chef James Bolus.
These two say the restrictions tore apart their holiday business at the restaurant near Dallas.
"I mean, we kind of saw it coming. It was a bummer. It definitely hurts, you know?" said Bolus.
"We weren't happy at all," added Mark. "You know, I felt like the timing that we got. It was a certain level that we expected. But then also we didn't get a lot of time in before, so restaurants have to order days in advance and we got limited notice. So a lot of people in the restaurant industry around here we're not happy about the timing that they gave us with that."
Even though they are happy the governor is lifting the indoor dining ban, Bolus and Mark say the capacity restrictions that will remain will still hurt business.
"I mean, we're super happy that we can let people back in a restaurant, but I mean we're just waiting for there to be no regulations," explained Mark. "Because if we're talking about being successful as a restaurant, 50% doesn't cut it. No, we like no regulations, and that's what cuts it for us, you know?"
Lauren Sacco and her family run Frankie's Pizzeria & Restaurant in downtown Hazleton; she has a similar take.
"You know it's been 10 months of this. If you can walk through Walmart and big corporate stores elbow to elbow, there's no reason that they cannot figure out a way for people to operate properly and safely," said Sacco. "You're more taken care of in a small business where people are more on top of things, and it's a one-off transaction than these big conglomerates. Small businesses pretty much being shoved off to the side."
Restaurants will be allowed to have indoor dining again on Monday after 8 a.m.
Restaurants that are self-certified through the state as a business compliant with COVID-19 mitigation efforts can operate at 50% capacity.
Those aren't can operate at 25% capacity again starting January 4.