Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’ll allow Chicago restaurants to serve more people starting Thursday

CHICAGO — Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she will allow Chicago bars and restaurants to expand the number of people they serve indoors.

But the city will continue to keep tighter restrictions on restaurants than the looser rules allowed elsewhere by the state.

Lightfoot’s plan, which will go into effect Thursday, will allow bars and restaurants to expand to 25% capacity or 50 people per room or floor. Currently, it’s a maximum of 25 people.

Critics say the city’s relaxed rules don’t go far enough and will benefit relatively few businesses: large restaurants with multiple large rooms.

“This doesn’t help the vast majority of restaurants and it’s unfair,” said Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Fulton Market Association and coordinator of the Chicago Restaurants Coalition, which formed in September to help members navigate the pandemic.

State rules allow restaurants to seat parties of 10 or fewer people and they should be spaced 6 feet apart, but Lightfoot has taken it slow due to concerns about reversing the city’s progress in lowering COVID-19 cases.

City officials said they will expand indoor capacity to 40% once the city reaches better figures in COVID-19 cases per day, test positivity, emergency department visits for coronavirus-like illness, and total number of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. They will expand indoor capacity to 50% after the city records two weeks of maintaining those levels.

The hang-up right now is the number of COVID-19 cases per day. Chicago’s seven-day rolling average for cases is at 466, and city health officials would like to see that figure drop to fewer than 400.

Though Lightfoot has positioned herself as a friend to bars and restaurants, especially after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed down indoor dining in October, she has faced criticism for implementing tighter rules than the state.

“The tragedy of this pandemic unfortunately continues but there’s hope at the end of this long journey,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “This path to 50% capacity ensures that we move forward with hope and confidence but also with the necessary precautions in place to ensure that the rush to reopen doesn’t endanger our progress.”

Earlier in the week, the Chicago Restaurants Coalition called on the city to expand indoor dining capacity to 50% by the weekend and the Valentine’s Day holiday. The rules announced Wednesday don’t move the needle for much of the industry, Romanelli said.

“It helps large restaurants and restaurants with banquet rooms but ultimately does not help the vast majority of family-owned Chicago restaurants,” Romanelli said.

He said it is unfair that other businesses, such as health clubs and retail stores are allowed to serve a higher percentage of usual capacity.

“It’s a slap in the face to our restaurants,” he said. “You cannot allow bowling alleys at 40% where people are eating and drinking and taking their masks off and keep restaurants at 25%. It’s a discriminatory action and totally inappropriate.”

Michael Roper, owner of the Hopleaf restaurant and bar in Andersonville, said the relaxed rules wouldn’t have any meaningful impact for his restaurant even though it has four separate rooms. None has a capacity above 71, which means he’d still be limited to 25% occupancy.

An additional hurdle to expanding capacity under the relaxed rules, he said, is continuing to maintain 6 feet of distance between tables.

“It’s hard to maintain social distancing and get enough people in the room to bring back my employees and open up,” he said.

He said he plans to keep Hopleaf closed until at least April 1, when he can open doors and windows and serve customers outside.