Chicago Loosens Indoor Dining Restrictions Before Valentine's Day

CHICAGO — City restaurants will be allowed to seat more patrons indoors starting Thursday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the loosened social distancing restrictions for restaurants ahead of Valentine's Day weekend. The new regulations will allow bars and restaurants to host 25 percent of capacity, up to 50 people perm room or floor. Currently, restaurants are only allowed to serve up to 25 people.

The mayor called the eased restrictions, which are more stringent than state rules, as a pathway to allowing restaurants and bars to serve up indoors at 50 percent capacity.

"We are definitely trending in the right direction today, and I thank the residents and businesses that continue to do what is necessary to save lives," Lightfoot said in a statement. "The tragedy of this pandemic unfortunately continues but there’s hope at the end of this long journey. This path to 50% capacity ensures that we move forward with hope and confidence but also with the necessary precautions in place to ensure that the rush to reopen doesn’t endanger our progress."

Earlier this week, the Chicago Restaurant Coalition called on City Hall to allow city eateries to open at 50 percent capacity in the lead up to Valentine's Day.

On Wednesday, city public health commissioner Dr. Alison Arwady said capacity limits won't be eased further until coronavirus statistics show the virus spread has reached a "moderate level" in four categories — the number of new cases per day, test positivity rate, and the number of COVID-19 related emergency room visits and intensive care unit patients. Currently, the average number of new coronavirus cases in Chicago (466) is considered "high risk."

“While we’re excited to be making this move today and further re-opening Chicago, it needs to be done the right way, or we risk seeing an uptick in cases and having to tighten restrictions yet again,” Arwady said. “I’m proud of how far we’ve come as a city and I know we can do this smartly and safely.”

Roger Romanelli, spokesman for the Chicago Restaurant Coalition, called the city's incremental increase in capacity "grossly unfair to restaurants" that have suffered more than any other industry during pandemic shutdowns.