LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mayor Frank Scott Jr. is relaxing the curfew in Little Rock and it is helping restaurants get back on their feet.
Brad McCray is the owner of Brewski's in downtown Little Rock. He is getting ready to open up on May 11 after being closed since March.
"Because we're a two-story space, we're really able to spread the tables out," McCray said.
Because of the original 9 p.m. curfew in Little Rock, McCray was planning on only opening up for limited hours. Now that the curfew starts at midnight, this allows him to get his business a little more back to normal.
"We'll open until midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday," McCray said.
It will also allow him to get more customers in the door.
"When you're operating at 33 percent of your occupancy, if you can stretch those hours longer, it's going to help the business generate more cash flow," he said.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. is hoping this new curfew will give restaurant owners more time to take more orders; either curbside or for in-person dining.
"I spent a lot of time with the restaurateurs. they've always been giving me a number of different information on what we need to do as we move forward," Mayor Scott said.
Since implementing the original 9 p.m. curfew in March, Mayor Scott said Little Rock police have given out very few citations.
"That's just a testament to the residents of Little Rock, understanding the seriousness of whatever it took to slow the community spread," he said.
Brewski's will be open 7 days a week, leaving McCray excited to get back to business.
"Now that we can take advantage of those hours at 8, 9, 10 p.m. at night where people want to get out with their friends and grab a table with some bucket of beers and a burger, we'll be here to help them," he said.
Brewski's hours will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday.
The curfew in Little rock goes from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Mayor Scott hopes to have it lifted by May 21.