After laying off employees multiple times and dipping into his personal savings to keep his 10 drinking and dining venues afloat, restaurateur David Spatafore feels optimistic for the first time in a year as San Diego County awaits the green light next week for more broadly reopening the local economy.
With the COVID-19 case rate continuing to diminish, San Diego is poised to enter the less-restrictive red tier next week, which, for restaurants and gyms, means moving back inside — albeit at much-reduced capacities — for the first time in more than four months. Movie theaters, too, would be allowed to operate indoors, as would museums and aquariums. And retail outlets will be able to increase capacity to 50 percent.