LOUISVILLE, Ky. -We've seen a lot of restaurants across the Commonwealth closing either temporarily or for good during the pandemic. The Highland Morning location in St. Matthews was one of them.

Spectrum News 1 talked with owner Michael Coe in early December, the day he made the tough decision to put the "we're closed" sign up.

"We are really struggling. I had to tell a single mother that works for us that doesn't have enough funds for Christmas that there's just no cards left to play," Coe told us back then.

Now the "open" sign welcomes a restaurant full of customers at that same location that shut down temporarily just four months prior.

"Things are really picking back up," Coe said.

In December, there was no indoor dining because of coronavirus restrictions. Coe said that was really posing a challenge for his business. Since then, cases have been doing down, restrictions have relaxed and more Kentuckians have been vaccinated, increasing some customers' comfort levels.

Eric David Gould is one of those customers who was dining in with a friend on Tuesday morning. As a former restaurant owner, he said he sympathizes with Coe. That's why he makes an effort to continue supporting local restaurants.

"This was 2007-2017 Smoketown USA in Germantown. IT was the hardest business ever. 2008 was like what they are going through now and I feel for them,” Gould said.

Coe said that kind of support is what keeps them going.

“We’ve really tried hard over the years to make ourselves a fabric of the people’s lives in our community here and give back. We employ people who live here. Having our locals come in and support us, I can’t overstate it. It’s been everything," Coe said.

While Gould is comfortable dining out, his wife is not because of the pandemic. That's why he also tries to support local businesses by ordering carry out.