DANVILLE, Pa. — The last few months have been hard for restaurants across Pennsylvania, including LT Evans Eatery & Drafthouse in Danville. The restaurant reopened for dine-in eating in late May, but along with the rest of the state, has been at 25 percent capacity since July. That is 17 customers at one time.
"If we didn't have staff it would be 27, so we had to cut back on a lot of staff to allow people to come in," Evan Willard explained.
Gov. Wolf has announced restaurants across Pennsylvania can move to 50 percent occupancy starting September 21.
In order to do that, restaurant owners must complete self-certification documents, where the business agrees to strictly follow all public health safety guidelines. The restaurant will then be listed in an online database that customers can access.
"It's going to bring a lot more people in I think," Willard said.
Also starting September 21, restaurants that sell alcohol must also stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m.
"Luckily, a lot of our business is still to-go based, so it hasn't affected us 100 percent but it will be nice to have fresh faces in the building," said Zachary Weidner at the PB&J Bar.
Many restaurants have increased outdoor seating to compensate, but with seasons changing, so will outdoor dining.
"If we were still down to 25 percent, it would hurt us a lot, but now that we can go back up to 50 percent, it will make up for it," said Willard.
Restaurants are allowed to move to 50 percent indoor capacity on September 21. Owners have until October 5 to complete the self-certification documents.