Where Restaurants Are Reopening Across the Bay Area

As everyone is likely aware, California is reopening in stages, slowly allowing restaurants and bars to add services based on a color-coded, county-by-county basis. This system may be going away soon — provided current trends continue, California will fully reopen on June 15. But in the meantime, counties will be setting limits for the restaurants within their borders. And, as we’ve seen time and time again in the past year, if coronavirus cases increase, officials will shut dining down again. It’s a lot to keep track of.

That means the exact timing and stages of reopening have varied wildly county by county. The Bay Area alone consists of nine different counties, each with its own restrictions. For all diners who are understandably confused, here’s the county-by-county overview on where restaurants are open or closed across the Bay Area.

This post will be updated frequently to account for the latest announcements on both the state and county level.

California

On a statewide level, California has seen a wild roller coaster of reopenings and reclosings, beginning with a takeout-and-delivery only restriction that began in March of 2020. Regulations began to relax for some counties in May, with restaurants opening for indoor and outdoor service soon after. By June, bars, breweries, and wineries reopened indoors and outdoors in some California counties, but by July, Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed that decision, ordering all indoor dining to cease immediately.

Restrictions just got tighter and tighter in the second half of 2020, including a curfew for the hardest-hit areas, then a regional stay-at-home order that restricted restaurants to delivery and takeout through the holidays. That order, as well as the curfew, remained in place until January 2021.

Now the state has returned to a reopening system, in which individual counties that reach certain testing and infection rates move from one color category to the next, each of which allow additional levels of service. The most restrictive tier, purple (“widespread risk”) allows outdoor dining, but requires bars without food to remain closed. Indoor dining at 25 percent capacity is allowed under the red tier (“substantial risk”), and bars without food may open with outdoor (but not indoor) drinking when counties reach the orange tier (“moderate risk”). It’s up to each county to decide if they want to resume those activities, however, and the strictest rules prevail.

Bay Area

Alameda County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on March 31, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Wineries, breweries, and distilleries open indoors at 25 percent capacity

Contra Costa County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on April 7, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Wineries, breweries, and distilleries open indoors at 25 percent capacity

Marin County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on March 24, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Breweries and wineries without food open for indoor drinking at 25 percent capacity

San Francisco County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “yellow” tier on May 7, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining, seating up to three households and six people per table
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity, with an 11 p.m. curfew, seating up to eight people per table, with no household limit
• Bars without food open for indoor drinking at 25 percent capacity (max 100 people)
• Self-service and buffets allowed with sanitation, distancing, and other safety protocols
• Live entertainment allowed including singing, speaking, chanting and wind instruments (see indoor gatherings).
• Tabletop cooking by personnel or patrons is allowed
• Masks no longer required for vaccinated people dining outdoors
• Restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, and distilleries all open outdoors at full capacity

San Mateo County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “yellow” tier on May 12, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars open indoors at 25 percent
• Wineries and breweries open at 50 percent capacity

Santa Clara County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on March 24, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity

Wine Country

Solano County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “red” tier on March 9, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Indoor dining is open as of March 10, 2021, at 25 percent capacity and a maximum of 100 people. (Previously reopened May 21, closed again July 1, reopened on September 22)
• All state-level reopenings are permitted, with no additional restrictions.

Sonoma County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on April 7, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Wineries, breweries, and distilleries open indoors at 25 percent capacity

Napa County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on April 7, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Wineries, breweries, and distilleries open indoors at 25 percent capacity

Further South

Santa Cruz County

• Latest reopening tier assignment: Entered the “orange” tier on March 31, 2021
• Open for takeout and delivery
• Open for outdoor dining
• Open for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity
• Bars without food open for outdoor drinking
• Wineries, breweries, and distilleries open indoors at 25 percent capacity