"Does the word 'elated' mean anything to you?!" Laura Ackley asks rhetorically. She's run the gamut of emotions during this pandemic, trying to keep Donna's Diner afloat as general manager.

"Our restaurant association has been lobbying hard for this," she said, referring to something it appears Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf heard. Starting September 21, restaurants across the Keystone State will be able to operate at 50 percent capacity, instead of the 25 percent they've been under.

"It was entirely too strict, in my opinion, but I am just thrilled that we're finally going to be able to get out of that, especially going into the colder months," Ackley says.

But there's a catch - alcohol sales will be cut off at 10 p.m., and you have to buy food with your drinks.

"It really doesn't do a lot for us, you know?" says Nick Morocco, owner of Nick's Inn 62 in Hermitage. He feels that unlike larger restaurants and chains, his won't make out much better.

"Maybe a couple more tables at a time, and without bar service...it doesn't do much, I was a little bit disappointed," he said. When we asked him what he'd rather see instead, he said, "I could've lived with the 10:00 alcohol sales with regular bar service."

State Rep. Chris Sainato, who represents part of Lawrence County, wants Governor Wolf to reconsider that detail - arguing that restaurants rely on after-dinner patrons and places like social clubs aren't set up to serve food.

Still, it's a small but essential step back toward normal for the restaurants and their customers.

"When you are only allowed 18 people in your restaurant and those 20th and 21st and 22nd walk in, and you have to turn them away, it's heartbreaking," Ackley said.