'It's Less Than I Expected': Businesses Open Up In Reduced Capacity For Pittsburgh's First Weekend In The 'Green' Phase
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Raymond Mikesell owns Cafe Raymond in the Strip. He says he doesn't know how much longer he will be able to stay open.
"The first few days were really bad," Mikesell says.
While customers dined in all weekend, he says it's still not enough.
"I'm willing to give it to the end of July. Hopefully that's enough time to see. What am I going to do? Wait three more months and be broke?" said Mikesell.
Right now, he's seating 50 percent capacity and is spending more than he's making. However, he's hopeful things will pick up, like Italian restaurant Bella Notte down the street.
"It was a little slow start, which is okay for us. Considering everything going on, we were hoping not for a mad rush," said General Manager of Bella Notte Rick Carrozzi.
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"It is less than I expected. I think it will grow on everybody. Everybody will feel a little more comfortable about it," said Paula Sanpietro, who dined at Bella Notte.
Some businesses like Ascend Climbing Gym on the South Side chose to wait until Monday to reopen.
"Monday felt better. We still had a little bit of cleaning up and facility maintenance we wanted to get done before we had customers back in," said co-owner of Ascend Pittsburgh Paul Guarino.
Ascend is only open to members for now on a limited basis. They increased their filtration system and everyone must wear a mask and maintain social distancing while they're climbing.
Businesses like Ascend say they're operating much lower than their normal capacity so they'll see how things go before considering opening the gym up to non-members.
