One of Ed Fazzone’s favorite places to be is in the kitchen.

“Oh I love it. It’s great," Fazzone said during Monday afternoon's lunch rush. "Time goes by fast, and there’s always something to do down here.”

For nearly five years, he and his wife, Lisa, have run Eddie F’s New England Seafood in Saratoga Springs.

“I love what I do," said Fazzone, whose family has been in the restaurant business for many years. "I am here 15 hours a day for the most part, but you get a thrill out of pleasing people and just putting out good food.”

When the pandemic first caused him to close his dining room last March, Fazzone quickly pivoted to a take-out only model and then offered limited outdoor seating throughout the summer.

“I was fortunate with it over the summer. We did well, and then it died out right after the summer,” Fazzone said.

Fazzone says he finally reopened the dining room in October. He and his wife took their usual winter break in December, which ended up stretching into February, as cases rose again.

“We saw that a lot of restaurants were having to close and employees were coming up with COVID, so that made us stay away a little longer than what we anticipated,” Fazzone said.

That second hiatus ended a month ago. While the state is boosting indoor dining capacity for restaurants from 50 to 75 percent on Friday, Fazzone says he plans to keep his layout right where it is.

“They say I can put 60 people in here, but that would be putting people on top of each other, and I really don’t want to do that,” Fazzone said.

Other Spa City restaurants, including Hattie’s, also took extended winter breaks because of the coronavirus.

“We just decided it was the best thing for Hattie's, for the staff, and the restaurant to not endure the winter’s ups and downs with COVID as an overlay,” Hattie's co-owner and executive chef Jasper Alexander said.

Alexander says they’re finally reopening at the start of April, and believes the increased capacity can only help business.

“Seventy-five percent is definitely a step in the right direction for the restaurant community as a whole," Alexander said. "It will affect restaurants differently. Larger restaurants that have more space will benefit more than those of us that are smaller.”

With COVID-19 cases falling, more people receiving vaccines, and the upcoming outdoor dining season set to increase capacity even further, both Alexander and Fazzone say there’s reason to believe brighter days lie ahead.

“I think we do have reason to be optimistic," Alexander said. "I think we’ll be able to do some of the things that make Saratoga a summer place to be.”

"I think with things starting to calm down a little bit, hopefully it stays that way and everybody and Saratoga can come back,” Fazzone said.