As Southwestern Pennsylvania Moves Into 'Green' Phase, Not All Restaurants Will Offer Indoor Dining Immediately
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Many businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania are happy to be reopening in the "green" phase on Friday.
At Kaya, takeout at the Strip District restaurant has been strong. But the new norm of empty seats won't change yet.
There won't be in-person dining here until Tuesday. Kaya is part of the Big Burrito Group, which is doing a tiered reopening of restaurants.
And they're not alone. At Iron Born Pizza in the Strip, the "green" phase doesn't mean dine-in on Friday.
"We're going to wait a couple more weeks just to see how everything plays out," said Sara Boyer, the general manager of Iron Born Pizza.
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Patrons can still order their deep-dish square pizzas, but dining-in still has many lingering questions.
"Bringing back staff is going to be a concern for a lot of places. So we want to bring everyone back and not have to cut back their hours," said Boyer.
At William Penn Tavern in Shadyside, almost everything will be business as usual.
"We're totally opening, but we have to follow all the guidelines. Fifty percent capacity, 6-foot social distancing," said Bear McKenna, bartender at William Penn Tavern.
At the start, there will be four people seated per table, masks must be worn until seated and no stand-up service.
"We're going to space our bar stools out here, here, here. But you have to be seated to have service. You can't walk up to the bar and get a drink," said McKenna.
A group KDKA interviewed was just happy their favorite spot is reopening, although they're not sure what to expect.
"I'll probably come with a mask, my debit card that's for sure, support local businesses," said Rob Wiederstein of Shadyside.
"It'll be nice just to do anything really, instead of just sitting in the house," Steve Wirkowski of Shadyside said.
William Penn Tavern says they're grateful green has come. After 12 weeks, they say they were barely hanging on.
