"They have to be at 50% capacity; they have to have their tables six feet apart; they have to use paper products or have the menu online so you're not touching the same menu as someone else," she said, while adding that all servers will have to wear face masks and customers will be required to wear masks while walking around the establishment, but they will be able to take the mask off while sitting at their table.
Mike Shatzel owns numerous restaurants around Western New York, including Cole's and Brennan's, and he says they're in no hurry to jump right in on day one.
"Cole's will open Wednesday - we felt like we needed 48 hours to really get things in order," he said. "Brennan's, right now we're pretty happy with just the outdoor seating we have, so we're going to take that, but I imagine that within the next week we'll start doing some indoor seating."
Nick Pitillo is the owner of Osteria 166, and like Shatzel, he's making sure everything is set before opening Thursday afternoon.
While thankful to reopen in limited capacity, both owners are concerned about the bottom line, as most restaurants run on pretty narrow margins as is.
"You're losing half of your revenue-generating surface area, so we need to figure out ways to continue to make enough money to survive while having half the number of tables, which is why the city has done their initiative for outside dining as well, which we feel will be a big help..." said Pitillo.
"Most restaurants at 100% occupancy, with no pandemic, struggle to make any profit," Pitillo continued. "The volume level needs to be there at the 100% occupancy to be able to cover your costs. To expect us to have 100% of our expenses and 50% of our (revenue), the math doesn't work out."
"With 50% capacity, it doesn't mean 50% of the cost," said Shatzel. "My rent is still 100%; my utilities are still 100%; my labor, while it won't be what it was with the whole operation going, but it's certainly not going to be half of that - my management team is not going to accept half pay.
"It's going to be hard - it's truly going to be hard to make things work, but we're going to give it a shot."
"Now more than ever, we must wear the masks, socially distance, disinfect your hands, because what we've seen is a nightmare in other states," she continued. "We have sacrificed too long; we cannot take a single step backward, and the governor has been clear about this."