CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Will County restaurant owner is making plans to follow the state's newest COVID-19 restrictions which begin Wednesday in Will and Kankakee counties because of worsening COVID-19 numbers.
Jason Panagos owns The Country Charm restaurant along Route 30 in New Lenox. He plans to double the number outdoor seats he has from 44.
"The lessons I learned during the first shutdown in March, I have my playbook now of what I know I need to do to be able to survive another shutdown," he said.
Panagos said he and other restaurant owners wish they didn't have to turn on a dime within 36 hours of the state announcing new COVID-19 guidelines.
"Myself and a lot of other restaurant owners I talk to, this has been a wild rollercoaster ride of making changes by the seat of our pants with very short notice when changes do come down from the state," he said.
One thing Panagos is most proud is that all his 14 employees are still working.
"Since the beginning of this started in March, the good news is by being creative and trying to come up with new ways to drive revenue, I've not had to lay off a single employee," he said.
One of his customers, Kelly Sarna chose to eat outside Tuesday even though she could have eaten inside.
"If we have the opportunity and the weather's nice, I think it's safer to just be out in the open air," she said.
Sarna's friend Rachel Johnson felt similarly.
"I usually prefer to eat outdoors, one because I like the weather, being out in the weather, but also two, I just feel safer outdoors," she said.
Longtime customer Helen Poteete is a senior citizen who said she has avoided indoor dining since the pandemic hit. She feels safer being outside.
"I haven't gone indoor dining since they closed everything months ago. I come here for its outside. That's it," she said.
Restaurants will have to be closed by 11 p.m. under the new restrictions. The Country Charm won't have to worry about that because it closes at 3 p.m. daily.
