LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For three weeks, restaurants and bars across the state have not allowed indoor dining after Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order temporarily halting it. As of Monday, restaurants are back open for indoor seating, but at a 50% capacity.
While indoor dining was shutdown, many restaurants improvised by providing outdoor dining, curbside and delivery. Kevin Lewis, General Manager at The Local Taco, says over those three weeks, the restaurant lost $85,000.
"It's hard to see the restaurants close and then if you try to go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart, there's not a parking spot. And there's tons of people in droves, they're shoulder to shoulder, and you're like, how am I the super spreader?"
But, Lewis perseveres, knowing he was able to keep all his employees and that other restaurants were not as lucky.
"It's sad to see a long-term restaurant go out. I mean, we've been here for 10 years now and we're susceptible to it too, at any point," Lewis said.
On the other side of town, Goodwood Brewing Company has opened their third location. Something that the owner and CEO, Ted Mitzlaff says has been in the works for a while. The brewery will have about 80 employees when they are full capacity; most of whom, had been displaced.
"We had over 200 employees apply here for the job, with 200 applicants you can really get the pick of the litter. We will probably end up with about 80 or so staff," Mitzlaff said.
The brewery built wooden separators between each table, anticipating some COVID-19 safety guidelines are here to stay. "All of our staff, we test their temperature when they come to work, we test all of the folks that come to the restaurant, we sanitize everything after each seating," Mitzlaff said.
Restaurants and bars have a midnight curfew, a part of the latest guideline.
