Monterey Wharves see busy first weekend since Stay at Home Order was lifted

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION)

On Sunday, crowds of people flocked to both Monterey Wharves after the Stay at Home Order was lifted in California this week.

Residents and tourists say they are excited abut being able to resume outdoor dining and activities while local business owners say this means hope to save their businesses.

For tourist Antonio Escobedo, he says there was no place better than the Wharf to celebrate his birthday.

“I’ve always wanted to come visit and I felt like this was the perfect time especially with everything that was lifted by the governor and I feel like it’s a really good energy that we have in here, I just see a lot of positivity," says Escobedo.

Local restaurant workers were racing up and down as they tended to the many customers at their door.

For some business owners, this was a good thing as many say they faced financial hardships during the pandemic and were unsure of the future.

“The reopening of the outdoor dining has been the greatest news since sliced bread for us, everybody’s excited, our employee morale is really up, customers were very happy to be able to sit down and be served," says Chris Shake, Owner of Old Fisherman's Grotto and Scales Seafood and Steaks.

Shake says he hopes the constant shut downs will be a thing of the past and remains hopeful that his business and others will make back some much needed revenue.

“We’re hoping in a couple of weeks, we have president's weekend, with Valentine's Day falling on a Sunday, so we really feel that that’s going to be a nice boost to the economy in Monterey," says Shake.

Local restaurant owners say they hope indoor dining will be allowed again in the near future.