San Diego businesses surprised after stay-at-home order lifted

Business owners across San Diego expressed surprise that the stay-at-home order was being lifted, but they still wouldn't be able to open overnight.

Nicollo Angius got a text from his business partner Monday morning, telling him the governor’s stay-at-home order was lifting.

“I was like, I’m not going to believe you this time,” Angius said.

But then he turned on the news and saw that the rumors were true.

His restaurant, Point Loma’s Cesarina, could resume outdoor dining because San Diego County was being upgraded to the state's purple tier of coronavirus restrictions. Under the purple tier, restaurants can serve outdoor only and salons can operate with indoor restrictions.

“I see it as, the people who are in charge giving a shot to the restaurant industry and saying ‘okay, we understand your struggle. You can reopen but do it right,’” Angius said.

Angius said at takeout and delivery only, Cesarina may get 25 percent of its normal sales on a good night. But it may not be until Thursday or Friday before diners can eat on one of its new patios.

“It's a big machine that we have to oil up again, get all the preps started,” Angius said.

The same can be said for Kari Davis-Duffy's two salons, called Gila Rut.

“I wish we could put the lights on and everybody roles in, but it's more complicated than that,” she said.

She has to get upwards of 60 employees back to work now, order the necessary supplies, and start booking appointments to hopefully open later this week.

“We’re excited, and we're wondering, like, did the numbers change that drastically? It just seems out of the blue, but we'll take it,” Davis-Duffy said.

Davis-Duffy had to permanently close her Del Mar Heights location amid the pandemic, the others in Hillcrest and Chula Vista surviving with the help of a PPP loan. She says her goal now is to get everyone back to work, so they can provide for their families.