Restaurant owners and customers are welcoming lifts on pandemic restrictions as Connecticut begins to completely reopen.

Kelly and her mom Millie used to go out to eat all the time before the pandemic. They're slowly starting to do things like that again. The two were sitting down for a meal at the Galaxy Diner in Bridgeport today.

"I come here now because their social distancing is good," she said.

Come May 19, Gov. Ned Lamont says restrictions such as social distancing at restaurants will vanish.

Lamont made the announcement last night, which means restaurant owners will no longer need to keep tables spaced apart or have booths taped off.

"It's very exciting to hear, finally a step in the right direction," Galaxy Diner owner Yanoula Giagkos says.

Just two short years after Giagkos and her husband Bobby took ownership of the Galaxy Diner in Bridgeport, COVID hit.

Until the restrictions are lifted, Giagkos says her patrons can expect to see caution tape inside her restaurant a little while longer.