Nisswa Restaurants Working at 50 Percent Occupancy

After Gov. Walz announced Phase 3 of the Stay Safe Minnesota plan, occupancy restrictions have caused Nisswa restaurants to enforce strict guidelines to keep business going.

As Nisswa begins its tourist season, restaurant owners are struggling to adapt to this new normal of maintaining social distancing, and they’re requiring reservations and seating no more than half of their walk-in customers.

Some of these businesses are not open all year around, so they rely on the winter and summer vacation seasons to make most of their profit. Manager Emma Armstrong from Big Axe Brewing says that they’ve turned people away despite having indoor and outdoor dining.

As the 4th of July quickly approaches, waitress Kami Berg from Ganley’s Restaurant says staff are doing whatever they can to keep customers safe as they prepare for the busy weekend.

To avoid waiting for sit-in dining, many restaurants are still doing curbside pickup and local delivery.