Nevada restaurants, bars welcome eased restrictions

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Governor Sisolak announced new, lighter COVID-19 restrictions on businesses Thursday and that has local restaurants and bars feeling a little more optimistic.

Effective Monday, maximum capacities will be increased from 25 to 35 percent. Six people will be allowed at a table instead of four. Reservations will no longer be required and all restrictions on outdoor dining will be lifted.

It’s not everything restaurants were hoping for, but a step in the right direction.

“It’s not a huge difference,” admits Hannah Ediss, manager of downtown Reno’s Silver Peak on the River, “so we’re looking forward to when it’s a little bit bigger, 50 percent, something more normal.

Sounds like they were hoping for 50 percent.

“Yeah, but that’s OK. We’ll take what we can at this point,” says Ediss, but when it gets to that point we’ll really be excited about it.”

And that could come in a month. If all goes well, capacity restrictions will be increased to 50 percent at the next restriction update on March 15th.

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