Over the weekend, one of the most vocal critics of how Gov. Jared Polis has handled capacity restrictions for restaurants and bars announced his restaurant is closing temporarily.

Chris Fusilier owns the Blake Street Tavern in LoDo, and on Saturday said the restaurant would close, hopefully temporarily, on January 1, with 25 employees going on furlough. He said state and Denver regulations regarding outdoor dining that required two sides of his tents to be completely open, even in the coldest weather, would not work either for his customers or his staff. “I won’t be the only one to do a temporary pause,” he told Colorado Politics Tuesday. “We don’t have indoor dining and can’t sustain outdoor dining,” he said. Fusilier said he’s been frustrated by the capacity restrictions; at 25%, which was the limit in October, his business just loses money.

Fusilier has pinned hopes for better business on a new state “Five Star” certification program that would allow restaurants following stricter health guidelines and in counties below the “red” level to expand capacity. While Denver is still in the “red” level on the state’s COVID-19 dial, the city has already applied for the program. Fusilier said he hopes if Denver moves to “orange level” in mid-January, he could re-open.

But restaurants have another assist on the way: the second federal pandemic relief program.

The Colorado Restaurant Association Tuesday cheered the provisions within the pandemic relief bill that it says could provide a needed “shot in the arm” to the industry.

The second federal relief bill includes another round of the paycheck protection program (PPP). The enhanced PPP will provide businesses with a forgivable loan based on 2.5 times its monthly payroll, according to the CRA, but restaurants can get loans of up to 3.5 times their monthly payroll. Those with 300 or more employees – one of the big criticisms of the PPP program was that it did not do enough for small businesses – are not eligible for PPP, making that assistance more targeted toward small and medium-sized businesses.

CRA’s Sonia Riggs said in a statement Tuesday that “the fresh round of PPP is a necessary shot in the arm for the restaurant industry. Without question, it will keep some restaurants from closing in the next couple of months, and give them resources to scratch through a very bleak winter. With so many Colorado counties facing indoor dining closures, it was imperative that the industry receive substantial cash help before the end of 2020, and this gives them a bridge to survive to early next year. We especially appreciate the targeted restaurant relief in this package such as the larger forgivable loan size, an exception for restaurants on the number of employees per location vs. combining locations, and an increased tax deduction for business meals.”

Riggs said the latest program is not a silver bullet designed to save the industry, and that more substantial relief will be needed from the Biden administration. “Without it, we will see complete decimation of restaurants and the people they employ – and our communities will no longer look like our communities.”