At Bill’s Cafe on The Alameda, co-owner George Zafiris greeted one of his regular customers outside the front door early Wednesday morning, the first day of Santa Clara County’s return to the less-restrictive red tier during this pandemic era.

“Are you ready to come inside to eat?”

“Of course. We’re not as stupid as Texas!” Ron Rosso said, pointing to his masked face and eliciting a big laugh from Zafiris before heading into the San Jose restaurant. “You can still do everything with a mask on.”

Across town, at the Zafiris family’s Willow Glen location, early customers expressed little interest in eating indoors and requested outdoor tables under heaters instead.

“I do feel a little safer,” said Jim Stice, one of six members of the self-described “Bill’s Breakfast Club,” a group of guys who’ve been meeting here for 15 years. “Most of us have had one or two shots. But I still don’t want to go in a restaurant.”

Disparate scenes like that played out across the county Wednesday as some residents and business owners embraced the new freedom while others decided to stick with the outdoors model. Under the new rules, restaurants, museums and movie theaters are now allowed to resume indoor operations at 25% capacity while retail stores can expand to 50%. Gyms and fitness centers can reopen but are limited to 10%. San Francisco and Napa counties also moved into the red tier, with similar but not identical restrictions.

SAN JOSE, CA – March 3: Indoor dining resumes in Santa Clara County where Bill’s Cafe server Steven Mackins brings breakfast to Santa Clara University students Izzie Vidamo and James Peterman, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, on The Alameda in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

Fitness 19 operator Vinnie Dominick has been running outdoor gym operations successfully in Milpitas and San Mateo since September. Still, he’s excited to offer indoor workouts once more.

“It is extremely difficult if you’re operating gyms in different counties with them having different restrictions. We have to be on our toes and we have to be aware of what’s going on, abide by the regulations they have so we can remain open, not just for us as a business, but for our members.”

Wanting a feeling of normalcy after so many months of turmoil may prompt some clients to head back inside, Dominick said, so even 10% capacity can have a beneficial effect. “I think just comfort, feeling like it’s normal to go to the gym again.”

Steve Kelly, vice president of marketing for the Bay Area’s Pacific Catch restaurants, pointed to the prospect of colder, rainy weeks still ahead as a big reason to be happy about this week’s upgrade. “The move to the red tier provides a much-needed lifeline to restaurants,” he said. “We’ve invested significant sums in our outdoor seating areas but the cooler winter weather has limited their usefulness.”

Kelly said the group’s Palo Alto and Mountain View locations are set to reopen for indoor dining before the dinner hour Wednesday, while the Cupertino and Campbell restaurants are scheduled to start with lunch service Thursday.

Also opening indoors Wednesday was Relish Kitchen + Drink in downtown Gilroy, a contemporary restaurant that made its debut last October — and had only a short opportunity to serve diners inside before the winter lockdown.

SAN JOSE, CA – March 3: Craig Trimble tidies up a display at his Antique Colony in San Jose, Calif., where business is picking up as Santa Clara County eases customer restrictions, moving into the red tier, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

Now owner Janice Albright is offering both alfresco and interior seating — tables for about 35 on the patio and 25 inside — “and we’re very excited about the upcoming warm season.”

But for chef Hector Figueroa, reopening his Pintxo Pote in Los Gatos for indoor dining at 25 percent just wouldn’t make sense. He and wife Angie Lipsett would be able to seat only 12 to 14 customers inside their long, narrow tapas bar.

So they’ll stick with offering Spanish takeout meals as well as paella-made-easy kits for the home cook — a plan that has kept them “staying afloat” financially, at least for now, he said.

At the other end of the size spectrum is the Antiques Colony, a collective in San Jose with 40 dealers spanning 9,000 square feet — and rarely a problem with social distancing, whether the limit is 25% or 50%.

For owner Craig Trimble, the easing of restrictions represents optimism — about our health, about the economy — and he’s already seen that in the increasing number of shoppers since January, especially those buying furniture for their homes and selecting vintage pieces of jewelry after trying them on in person.

“We got cabin fever, and there’s a pent-up demand,” he said. “They are anxious to get back out and not order from Amazon.”

Bay Area News Group reporter Joseph Geha contributed to this story.