Restaurants & Bars
Chicago Restaurants Want 50 Percent Capacity For Valentine's Day
Chicago Restaurant Coalition calls on Mayor Lightfoot to tap $50 million from tax increment financing for grants to struggling eateries.
CHICAGO — A group of Chicago restaurateurs want more than love from City Hall on Valentine's Day weekend.
The Chicago Restaurant Coalition on Monday called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City Council to boost restaurant indoor-dining capacity to 50 percent or 50 people by Friday. Additionally, the group wants City Hall to tap into the city's $2 billion tax increment finance funding to provide $50 million in grants to restaurants with up to $9 million in annual sales.
"With most Chicago restaurants doing a great job of keeping people safe and the city's COVID positivity getting lower, indoor dining should be increased to 50% capacity or 50 people for the Valentine's Day weekend. Restaurants have lost tremendous sales during recent holidays, and Mayor Lightfoot and the aldermen should understand this and take corrective action," coalition spokesman Roger Romanelli said in a statement.
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"It's unfair that customer occupancy at bowling alleys and movie theaters is allowed to exceed restaurants. This must change, and restaurants deserve" to be allowed 50-percent capacity up to 50 people.
According to the state's Phase 4 social distance guidelines, most indoor activities are limited to 50-percent capacity up to 50 people. But the guidelines do not set specific capacity limits for restaurants so long as seating areas are arranged, so tables allow for six feet between parties, or "impermeable barriers" are installed between booths that are closer together. Standing areas, however, should be limited to 25-percent capacity, according to the guidelines.
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In Chicago, however, public health officials have modified Phase 4 rules to only allow 25-percent capacity up to 25 people per restaurant. Public health commissioner Dr. Alison Arwady said the reason for stricter limits was that it is "standard public health practice to monitor the impact of any significant mitigation change for a minimum of two weeks."
A city spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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