BUFFALO, N.Y. — With New York State now allowing outdoor dining in phase two, many restaurants are seeing visitors eager to be back.
"It's incredible. It's nice to be back doing what I do, seeing the friendly faces again," Robert Warner, the manager at Cole's on Elmwood.
"There is a demand. People just wanna get out," said Developer Rocco Termini, who owns several Buffalo area restaurants including Tappo Pizza on Chandler Street.
With phase three around the corner, soon restaurants will be able to open their doors to customers again, with several safety precautions and restrictions in place.
"We re-arranged the interior of all of our restaurants so that all the tables are six feet apart," said Termini. He added, "You lose probably 50 percent of your capacity because of the social distancing rule."
Tuesday Buffalo Common Council voted to allow restaurants to temporarily expand outdoor seating for the remainder of the season.
Councilman Joel Feroleto told 2 On Your Side they've received several applications already.
He explained, "Some of the restaurants are expanding on their private parking lots. Some restaurants are expanding on their sidewalks."
Some Buffalo businesses are already benefiting from the change.
Warner said, "Before our patio was quite a bit smaller. Now that we've been able to expand it, it's been very well received."
Feroleto explained this is one way the city can help the local food service industry recover.
He said, "The local restaurants have such an important impact on the whole neighborhood and region. In Erie County, there's approximately 50,000 people that work in the food service industry."
Termini said, "The local law helps us make up some of that 50 percent that we lost in the interior of the restaurant."
For restaurant owners who are interested, Feroleto explained, "The restaurant needs to go to the City of Buffalo website, fill out the application, and there's going to be a very quick turn around on the approval process. We're here to try to help these small businesses during these times."