Gov. Walz Dials Back Restrictions, Restaurants Can Have 75 Percent Capacity

Restaurants and bars received some welcome news Friday when Governor Walz announced a major rollback of COVID-19 restrictions.

Starting Monday at noon, bars and restaurants will be able to operate at 75 percent of indoor capacity with a limit of 250 people. Bar seating, meanwhile, increases to parties of four.

Rock Elm Tavern is one of many businesses hit hard by the pandemic. The company had to temporarily suspend operations at its Plymouth and Maple Grove locations just before Christmas.

The Plymouth location reopened in January, but the Maple Grove venue has been closed this whole time.

The owners plan to reopen the Maple Grove location next week under a new name, some new design elements and an updated menu. Yet while the governor’s announcement brings some excitement, it also presents a few challenges.

“Restaurants weren’t set up to be tables 6 feet apart,” said Troy Reding, one of the owners of Rock Elm Tavern. “So when you look at it, it’s how do we do things like plexiglass and barriers in order to get up to that 75 percent capacity?”

Maple Grove’s new Rock Elm at the Grove opens March 17.

The new ‘Rock Elm at the Grove’ opens in Maple Grove on March 17.

For a full list of what restrictions Gov. Tim Walz has dialed back, click here.

Maple Grove | Plymouth