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This St. Patrick’s Day, Irish bars and restaurants want guests to have fun but stay safe.
The Lincoln Irish Dancers will perform with live bagpipes in the Parthenon Greek Grill and Taverna in Lincoln tonight. Owner George Kazas said it’s not about the money or how busy the restaurant could be tonight. What’s important is being able to celebrate again as they have for the past 16 years.
"A lot of people will mention, you know, 'What's a Greek restaurant doing St. Patrick's Day celebration?' for us it's like, 'Why not?" he said.
Lauren Hull remembered when McKinney's Irish Pub in Lincoln couldn’t celebrate last year at all.
"We could only have 10 people in the bar on our busiest day of the year, usually. It was crazy," she said.
The general manager said the bar is open until 2 a.m. tonight and there will be live music, but the place looks a little different this year.
"We have an extended patio area that way we can social distance," she said. "We have security to make sure that people are wearing their mask."
Randy Belmont is the general manager at Clancy’s Pub in Omaha. He said they want to give people the chance to celebrate but he’s serious about safety too.
"I hope everybody masks up the whole day long," he said. "You know, you're always gonna get those people that don't want to mask up.. and those people aren't going to be able to get in today."
George Kazas, owner of the Parthenon, encourages everyone to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in ways they feel most comfortable.
"Come on out and celebrate St. Patrick's Day, even if it's not dine in and know that you can get curbside delivery and it'll be just as good as it was if you're in the restaurant," he said.
He urges Nebraskans to support their local places.