Even though restrictions preventing indoor dining remain in effect across Illinois, four restaurants in north suburban Lake County decided to reopen their doors Friday.
The restaurants include Stevens' Steakhouse, Kaiser's Pizza & Pub and Timothy O'Toole's pub in Gurnee as well as the Shanty Restaurant in Wadsworth.
Under Illinois' guidelines, indoor dining can resume, in part, as regions begin to move into Tier 1 of the state's coronavirus mitigations and even further as they return to Phase 4.
On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced three regions have met the criteria to lift Tier 3 mitigations under the state's guidelines and move to Tier 2.
The same day, some Illinoisans seeking a sense of normalcy dined indoors for the first time in months.
"I mean, I am healthy, yeah," said Brooklyn Moser, who went to Timothy O'Toole's with her husband, Jeff. "I am not saying it is right for everyone. But there are people that have jobs, need jobs, need to work, and we are going to support our local businesses we've been coming to forever."
NBC 5 reached out to officials with the village of Gurnee who confirmed they were aware of the situation, but didn't specify how it's being handled.
"We are a border city here, you can go a half hour north and go to many different restaurants," Jeff Moser said. "I think businesses here in Illinois should be enjoying the fruits of their labor as well."
All four restaurants declined to talk on camera, but issued the following statement on social media:
