WEST SENECA, N.Y. — Julie Sims left a career in social work and became a co-owner of Rusty Buffalo Sports Bar and Grill in West Seneca.

There was a Friday feel in the establishment, as patrons sat down for food and drink early Friday afternoon. 

"Do you want this cherry to be a double or a single?" she asked a woman as she began pouring her a cocktail. The woman ordered the double. 

"I'm a social person. I like people. I like my old man regulars that come by every day. I know them by name," Sims said.

But the bar business has been a challenge during the pandemic.

"It's coming to point where I don't know what else to do," Sims said.

First, there was the shutdown in the spring followed by regulations for reopening. Now, more new rules from New York State and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are trying to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In effect Friday night, bars, restaurants and gyms are mandated to close at 10 p.m. statewide, while those restaurants in Erie County's microcluster "yellow zone" can only seat four people per table.  

They're allowed to offer pickup and delivery after 10 p.m., but that's not in the plans for Sims.

"It's kind of just like a circus. Every day of getting a new regulation and then having to make the best out of it," she said.

It all adds up to fewer patrons in the bar, and fewer dollars in the cash register at a time when these establishments are already hurting.

"A lot of people just are really worried to come out in general," Sims said. 

She's holding out hope we can avoid another full shutdown, and while she understands what's behind the state's decisions, it doesn't make it running a business any easier.

"I'm just trying to keep going, keep chugging along and see what happens in the future. I mean just get through this time," she said.