LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - There is nothing Vincenzo’s Ristorante manager Alyssa Tolliver wants more than a busy restaurant.

“Everyone crazy, a full staff just running around, I just can’t wait for it,” Tolliver said.

The mayor’s announcement that directed health measures would be loosened started Friday is a step in that direction.

“It’s a baby step forward,” Tolliver said.

Start Friday, there are no longer COVID-19 restrictions mandating when restaurants and bars must stop serving alcohol or close to in-person drinking and eating.

Restaurant managers said this is one of the toughest rules the pandemic has brought.

“It’s been really difficult, especially when we had to close at nine it really was a strain on the bar,” Stephen Engel, with Buzzard Billy’s said. “It really impacted finances.”

He said at times it wasn’t even worth it to stay open past 9 p.m. All of this trickled down to impact staffing.

“We have less servers, less bartenders, less hosts,” Tolliver said. “We don’t have a busser during the week.”

While many restrictions are still in place, like capacities still reduced to 50 percent with no parties larger than eight, as well as masking and social distancing, these new rules bring hope.

“I think in 2021 we’re moving in the right direction,” Engel said. “I think the best is yet to come this year.”

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