STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Tables and chairs scatter the sidewalks of downtown Stroudsburg, as outdoor dining is now allowed per Governor Wolf and restaurant owners couldn't be happier.
"It's gonna be fun. I got a lot of people threatening to come back and have lots of fun here at Siamsa," said Douglas Gawthorp, owner of Siamsa Irish Pub.
Siamsa Irish Pub had several tables out for customers. Kayda Warner and her mom took advantage.
"Kind of been cooped up in fact, you know like, doing my part and completely fully understanding it, but it's nice to finally be able to get outside and just do something," said Kayda Warner of Kresgeville.
A little farther up the block is Newberry's Yard of Ale. Owner, Barry Lynch, said his employees were thrilled to get back to work.
"Just we all kind of missed one another we were a small little restaurant but we're local we all know one another we all have, you know, locals and we've these relationships and bartenders and servers all missed one another so it's exciting," said Lynch.
Outdoor dining is bringing activity back to downtown Stroudsburg and area businesses are happy to be one step closer to normalcy.
"There was nobody here are a couple of months ago, coming in, and there's no cars but now there's cars people walking around it's wonderful," said Gawthorp.
Monroe County is still in the yellow phase, so gatherings cannot exceed 25 people. Restaurant owners want to serve all their customers, but ask them to be patient as seating may be limited.
"We're going to see as they come. We're not going to take reservations, or just see how it goes. We expect to be pretty busy. I have a really great customer base here," continued Gawthorp.
Restaurants that have the ability to open for outdoor dining now, hope other restaurants can do the same to bring business back to downtown.