As they have for pretty much the last year, our Valley restaurants and bars are rolling with the punches, and St. Patrick's Day 2021 will be no different. 

It's not the kind of holiday many of us WANT to be socially distanced on.
But if you decide to press your luck this St. Patrick's Day and head out for a good time, you won't have much choice.

"Last year we had the big 4,000 square foot tent outside, this year we're not doing anything outside, we're going to be scaling things down a little bit," says John Rudy, owner of Magic Tree Pub & Eatery in Boardman.

He's still promising patrons all the green beer and Irish music they could want.

"Our tables are already set up for social distancing, you have to have a mask, you have to have a seat to get into the building. If you're standing, you have to have a mask on walking to the bathrooms."

Christian Rinehart, who not only owns O'Donold's in downtown Youngstown, but also Suzie's Dogs and Drafts nearby, is taking a similar approach.

"We had water damage next door at Rhine Haus during COVID, so we're going to use that for extra space to help people social distance," he said. "We will have security making sure people are wearing their masks, but we're kind of just hoping people will be responsible and stay away from each other."

A safe St. Patty's Day will be crucial to helping Ohio get to Governor DeWine's mandate of 50 COVID cases per 100,000 people to lift all remaining restrictions.
Rinehart hopes that will happen in time for the next big celebration.

"Maybe a big Cinco de Mayo instead of St. Patty's Day!"