JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The loss of indoor dining in Kentucky the last few weeks has resulted in a boost in business for Southern Indiana restaurants.
Governor Andy Beshear is lifting his restrictions Monday after issuing an executive order to close indoor dining in Kentucky Nov. 20.
Since then, restaurants across the river have noticed an influx of Louisville customers taking advantage of their indoor dining options.
"We're getting to a point where we almost have to start cutting people off the waitlist because we're going to close by the time they'd be seated," service manager at The Red Yeti in Jeffersonville Nick Nevels said. "We're on a waitlist most of the day. Ninety minutes is about the longest I've quoted so far."
Owners of The Red Yeti and That's My Dog in downtown Jeffersonville have been receiving numerous calls from people asking about hours and reservations.
"Everybody was like 'Do you dine indoors? Do you dine indoors?'" I was like 'Yes, we do!'" Owner of That's My Dog, Thomas Harris said. "A lot of people from Kentucky have been dining over here especially on the weekends."
Nevels said bartenders have been noticing the flood of Louisville customers after checking IDs.
"I assume most of the time those people are from Louisville because people here know where we're at," Nevels said. "Monday, I actually had to shut off one of our delivery services for most of the day so that we can get the kitchen to prep backup all those items."
When Beshear ordered Kentucky restaurants to close indoor dining, chefs and managers started a petition to reopen on Monday – with or without the governor's approval.
"Luckily, we didn't have that restriction over here because that would've been devastating to the business," Harris said. "I actually want to thank Andy Beshear for doing what he's done because it helped us out as a business."
Beshear gave the OK on Thursday to reopen indoor dining at 50% capacity. Restaurants in Southern Indiana are serving indoors at 75% capacity.
"I could usually get five or six names on [the waitlist] and sat within a reasonable amount of time but now I'm starting to quote people an hour, hour and a half and that's very rare for us," Nevels said.
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