4 Lake Co. Restaurants Reopen For Indoor Dining

GURNEE, IL —Four Lake County restaurants whose owners say are "among the last closed for indoor dining service" will open their doors back up to the public Friday.

Kaiser's Pizza and Pub, 1801 N. IL Route 21 in Gurnee; The Shanty, 38985 Highway 41 in Wadsworth; Timothy O'Toole's, 5572 Grand Avenue in Gurnee; and Steven's, 1401 N. Riverside Drive in Gurnee announced on Facebook that their establishments would allow 25 percent capacity starting on Jan. 15.

"We're all kind of at the point where either we close the doors permanently or give this a shot," said Ed Roman, owner of Kaiser's, told the Daily Herald.

The move goes against Gov. J.B. Pritzker's order to keep restaurants closed to indoor dining. Lake County, as well as the entire Chicago area, is not currently eligible to move down from Tier 3 restrictions. Under Tier 1, indoor dining is allowed.

"Our teams have sacrificed a lot since March with two full indoor shutdowns, but we stand together and are very proud of the decisions we have made as a restaurant community," according to a joint statement from the restaurants.

The owners informed local health officials about their decision to reopen.

Jack Linehan, the assistant to the Gurnee village administrator, told the Daily Herald the city typically responds to an establishment open for indoor dining if a resident makes a complaint. They will then tell the owner about the governor's order, write a report and tell the resident who made the complaint about a reporting tool available on the Lake County Department of Health's website but will not take further action.

The restaurants reopening Friday will have tables properly spaced apart, employees will need to have their temperature checks and customers will be required to wear masks.

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