BARRIE, ONT. -- Staff at Barrie's Barnstormer Brewing and Distilling Company spent the first day of Spring cleaning up their patio and putting umbrella stands together.

Starting Saturday, more people can go inside for a meal or a drink.

"It's huge," says Barnerstormer General Manager Bernadine Quigley. "It definitely is a game-changer."

New provincial COVID-19 rules that took effect Saturday give restaurants and bars in red zones permission to use 50 percent of their indoor seating capacity, or up to 50 people.

The limit had been ten, regardless of the size of the dining room.

"Ten was helpful, but it just wasn't enough," says Quigley. "Being able to have 50 guests inside, it's still not the same as being fully open, but it definitely, definitely helps and gets us on the road back to recovery".

Whether eating or drinking inside or outside, the province says people should only be sitting with members of their households.

Some restauranteurs are not going to bite on increased capacities. At least not yet.

Sicilian Gourmet Pizza and Pasta is relying on its pizza delivery these days. It has a bar that will sit in darkness Saturday night.

Owner Reza Makhooli says he will wait for infection rates to go down before opening up again.

But at St. Louis Bar and Grill, staff feel they've done everything they can to keep diners safe.

"We need to have guests in our stores in order to not just survive, but to thrive," says business operations manager Caroline Copp.