CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the last year, businesses around Charlotte have been forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants and the hospitality industry have taken a huge hit during the pandemic, especially those in Uptown.

One restaurant in the heart of Charlotte made the decision to reopen Thursday.

5Church in Uptown is finally ready to re-open after consulting with customers and coming up with adequate safety plans. The restaurant closed in March for in-person dining, and at one point even stopped serving to-go food.

The owners say most of their business came from people who worked in Uptown and would go out for happy hour or dinner after work before enjoying a night out.  

Jamie Lynch, the chef and partner of 5th Street Group, says they're ready to reopen because he thinks people are ready to get back to some sort of normal.

​“It’s just been a really tough terrain for us to navigate since the pandemic started," he says. "But now we feel that with vaccines on the horizon ... we feel positive that we can give back to the community and do what we do best, which is offer a great experience for people and kind of get them outside of the world that they’re living in out there, and give them a great experience here at the restaurant.”

Guests are encouraged to make reservations due to the dining restrictions still in place by Gov. Roy Cooper's executive order.