Chicago Restaurants Forced To Halt Indoor Dining

Governer Pritzker has ordered restaurants to close their dining rooms effective Friday, October 30th. However, delivery, takeout, and outdoor dining will still be allowed - with some restrictions. Reservations are now required for outdoor dining, tables must be six feet apart, and there’s an 11pm curfew. So, we’re essentially returning to Phase 3 protocol from early June.

The order comes as Covid-19 cases continue to surge throughout Illinois, so this ban isn’t that surprising. Chicago’s positivity rate has nearly doubled since the start of the month, and last week officials said they would shut down indoor dining if our positivity rates went above 8% for three straight days. We’re currently at 7.8%, and Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she would rather take action now.

There’s no set date for when indoor dining can resume, but the state’s news release mentions dining rooms could reopen if the average positivity rate drops to 6.5%, there’s a decrease in COVID-19-related hospital admissions, and an increase in available hospital beds.

In the meantime, you can still support your favorite restaurants. Here are the places that have covered outdoor seating, and a list of the best things we’ve eaten recently - all available for takeout and delivery.