PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Restaurants and bars around Hampton Roads are making adjustments to comply with the governor’s new executive order restricting business operations.
The new restrictions were announced to help slow the recent spike of positive cases of coronavirus in Hampton Roads. The order focuses on bars, restaurants and social gatherings.
Under the new restrictions, no alcohol can be served or consumed past 10 p.m. Bars and restaurants must close their doors by midnight. Also, all indoor dining is also restricted to 50-percent capacity. The rules take effect when the clock strikes midnight Thursday going into Friday.
We spoke with Mike Atkinson, one of the owners of Chick’s Oyster Bar and The Porch On Long Creek in Virginia Beach, about the new rules.
“I think they’re pretty reasonable,” said Atkinson. “Everybody’s going to have a different opinion, you can’t make one thing fit everybody. Do I wish we were open an hour later because we serve a lot of food? Yeah. But we’ll make the best of it.”
Atkinson says they would rather make minor changes, like clearing tables of alcohol by 10 p.m., then have the types of shutdowns restaurants dealt with in March.
“We’re happy to be open right now. Looking back to just a few months ago, one day you’re open, you have a great weekend, and three days later, you’re letting 300 employees go.”
“Hopefully if we curve this in a few weeks, the governor will open things back up. But most importantly, we’re not shutting down and maybe this will move us in the right direction.”
Atkinson says he’s incredibly proud of his team for all the adjustments, hard work, and flexibility they’ve shown in this ever-changing situation.
“Thirty years of being in business, I’ve never seen employees and management step up to the plate like these last couple months. It’s just really been refreshing,”
The governor didn’t give a timeline for when the restrictions on Hampton Roads would be lifted.