With the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Rochester canceled, bars and restaurants along the parade route will still be open this weekend ready for business.

But Friday the state mandated all restaurants and bars must limit their capacities by 50 percent in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s our busiest weekend of the year,” Murphy’s Law co-owner John Diamantopoulos said.

Diamantopoulos says St. Patrick’s Day usually brings out thousands of people on East Ave.

“It’s kind of like the beginning of spring, so people are always trying to get out and get over the whole winter months,” Diamantopoulos said.

But co-owner John Diamantopoulos isn’t sure what to expect this year with COVID-19.

“The energy will be quite different,” Diamantopoulos said.

The parade being cancelled won’t be a hindrance to everyone...

“I’m disappointed, but it definitely won’t stop me from going out this weekend. I’m still going to enjoy the holiday,” Rochester resident Devon Adjei said.

But others will be staying home.

“We’re going to always have the friends over, but it’s just not going to be a big thing,” Rochester resident Alyssa Troidel said.

Still, Diamantopoulos wants to provide a safe and welcoming environment for those that do want to come out, and his employees.

Besides the state having him cut his capacity in half, he says there will be sanitizer at every table. And just this week, he had a hospital-grade UV light purifier installed in his HVAC system.

“When the air comes through the system from out here and is pushed through the furnace or air conditioning, these ultra-violet lights kill 99% of the germs that pass through the air conditioning system,” Diamantopoulos said.

Which is comforting to customers that plan on being there this weekend.

“It’s awesome. It’s a really good way to get people to come out and still feel safe about the environment. It’s really good,” Adjei said.