Many opened last week as restaurants and cafes as part of the Government’s alert level 2 hospitality staggered start.
But it is fairly much back to normal from tomorrow, a relief for those in the industry.
Said Lincoln’s Famous Grouse Hotel manager Will Stock: “I think the community are excited to come and have a draft beer. We have had massive support from the district so far.”
Crate and Barrel in Leeston owner Craig Bradford said they cannot wait to be serving patrons again.
“We have a bit of work to do at the moment. It should begin to pick up even more now,” he said.
“We can’t get enough of it. We will have a register for when people come in and we will seat them straight away,” he said.
Gaming machines and TAB facilities will also be able to operate in hotels across the region.
New rules mean patrons must be seated and will be served at their tables.
Darfield Hotel owner Ray O’Connell said things have been going well he was looking forward to being fully open.
“It will be good to have the bar back open. The gaming lounge and TAB will be available tomorrow,” he said.
Coalgate Tavern co-owner Steve Joy said they have been open for dine-in purposes but will be back to business as usual tomorrow.
Two Fat Possums director Murray Hickman said they have been preparing for reopening.
“We are mostly just getting our systems in place such as building our stocks up.
Making sure all our electronic terminals and things in the back office are working correctly and of course some cleaning.
“We are very excited to open. It’ll be nice to get back into the normal things,” he said.
