With Pennsylvania's occupancy restrictions ending in June, restaurant owners are thinking about how their businesses will operate in post-pandemic restrictions.

And it seems there will be some lasting changes brought on by COVID-19 and the creative manner in which business owners dealt with their struggles.

Judy Ferree, owner of Hotel Saxonburg, said some of the pandemic-imposed changes — more outdoor dining, shorter menus and, to an extent, harder-to-find staff — may end up becoming part of her business operations in the future.

And much like how a return to normalcy may be more gradual than seeing full-capacity restaurants on June 1, Beacon Hotel owner Debra Krelow said, there will be some new things that will gradually return to normal or simply become part of restaurants' fabrics as a result of COVID-19.

Both Ferree and Krelow said the increased popularity of takeout, which became the only way to eat a restaurant meal when dine-in services were forced to close early in the pandemic, will likely continue, even if at a reduced rate.

Krelow attributed that to people spending more time outside and said they may want to enjoy their restaurant-cooked dinner at the park, for instance, rather than in a dining room. For Ferree, the ease of takeout makes it an easy choice for some diners.

“I don't think it will be as much as when they were forced to, but it will be more than what it used to be,” Ferree said. “It's much more convenient for the customer.”

Krelow's point — that people are spending more time outside — extends to those eating at the restaurant, as well.

“The pandemic has done more for our patio than anything ever — all the advertising, everything I've ever done,” she said. “People would not sit outside to eat if it was below 70 degrees or above 80 degrees. Now they're dining outside and enjoying the fresh air.”

That's the case at Hotel Saxonburg, too, said Ferree. She said she's seen people in other parts of the country enjoy dining outdoors or simply sitting outside when the temperatures are in the 40s or 50s, and she wondered why that wasn't en vogue in Western Pennsylvania. Now, though, she won't have to ask that question.

“People are sitting out there now at 45 or 50 degrees,” she said. “As long as it's not raining, they still want to sit outside. ... I think people started to realize it's pretty nice to sit outside when it's 50 degrees out. I think people are really going to keep trending toward the outdoor dining.”

Another lasting impact from the pandemic might be on the food itself, in addition to the manner in which eaters enjoy it.

“We're changing our menu more frequently because we can't carry as many items, so we're doing a spring menu, a summer menu,” Krelow said. “We've kept our staples but we've definitely switched up our specials. People enjoy that.”

Ferree said her restaurant has done the same, and said higher prices up the supply chain have driven that. While the restaurant formerly had about 100 menu offerings, that number has dropped to 30.

Her restaurant has switched to daily menus due to shortages and price hikes — for instance, Ferree said, “Lobster's hard to get, the crab price is going sky high, things like Virginia spots, we don't even have them on the menu now” — but the limitation may become a longer-term fixture for the eatery.

“It's making me think about what we used to do, because our food costs can be a lot better controlled in some way,” Ferree said. “It definitely will be somewhere in the middle of what we have now and what we used to have. I don't think we'll ever go back.”

A shorter-term impact from the pandemic is the difficulty both restaurants — and those across the county — face in attracting new hires. Krelow said the Beacon has sought help for the summer with limited success, something she knew would come one day but never expected it so soon.

“Twenty years ago they predicted a shortage of staff in the restaurant industry, because the boomers were getting older and they didn't want their kids working through college,” she said. “We've known there was going to be a shortage — and there has been for a while — but this has just exploded.”

Ferree said there are several potential causes to the shortage, including workers who left the restaurant industry in 2020 due to the risk of being at the mercy of pandemic restrictions.

“It's hard,” she said. “I don't know if it's because of the extra unemployment. I think that's part of it, but I think part of it is the instability in the restaurant industry. I'm not sure.”

There certainly will be some changes for restaurants to adapt to in the coming months and years, but for these two restaurants the support from their communities hasn't changed.

“The people in our town have been so positive and understanding and supportive,” Ferree said. “I think it's amazing how people pull together and support the small businesses. It's really incredible.”