The bottle was uncorked in bars after more than five months on Tuesday.

The first day was “nothing great” but owners hoped that serving alcohol would gradually improve footfall.

Bars have to do with half the seating capacity and a much-reduced workforce. But the permission to serve liquor has brought a sense of relief and hope, several owners said.

A veteran Park Street restaurateur was seen pouring whisky into four glasses around 3.30pm for patrons. A waiter had reached out for the bottle but was stopped by the owner.

“This feels so good, so normal, so Park Street. I want to make many more drinks today,” said Pratap Daryani, the owner of Oasis.

The reduced capacity meant space for 30 guests on the ground floor and 40 on the first floor. But only two tables were occupied — one on the first floor had two guests and one on the ground floor had one.

Amishek Singh, a businessman from Tollygunge, was seated at a table on the ground floor with a drink. “I was waiting to have a drink and good lunch on Park Street. This is a shot at normal life, which has to go on,” Singh who had dropped in on his way back from meeting a client in Salt Lake said.

Around 300m away, three tables were occupied in the sprawling dining area of Tung Fong. “This seems a lot… footfall was lean past month. There have been Saturdays and Sundays when only seven or eight tables were occupied throughout the day. We hope serving liquor improves footfall, at least marginally,” an employee said.

Glass walls separating tables and alternate tables “reserved” —distancing steps that have been in place since restaurants reopened on June 8 — continued to be in place.

Restaurants got the nod to reopen from June 8 but the lid on bottles had kept many establishments shut. A few watering holes were shut on Tuesday, too. But the owners said they were busy stocking up and would reopen soon.

“The excise order came suddenly. We are stocking up and we will open tomorrow (Wednesday),” an official of Silver Grill, one of the places that were shut on Tuesday said.

The price of alcohol remained unchanged at most of the places on Tuesday. Restaurateurs said they had to spend “30 per cent more” to procure stock from the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation but high prices at restaurants is fraught with risk of a further dip in footfall.

A couple of bar owners said they had raised prices, but “marginally”.The dine-and-drink dens will not extend timings immediately. The usual closure time is 11pm. Some of the places wind up earlier as well.

The resumption of bar services has instilled new hope in many employees who are on furlough or an unpaid leave. “I had called up my manager… he told me about the permission to serve liquor and said if things improve I might get back to work,” a resident of Uttarpara who used to work at a bar on Camac Street said.

Some restaurant owners said calling employees back to work right now was unlikely.

“We were sinking. The nod to serve liquor has come as a much-needed lifeboat. The next few months will have to see a robust growth for us to plan anything,” a bar owner said.

The extension of timings will help bring back some employees, another owner said. “It would mean multiple shifts and the need for more people.

But in the current situation, no owner will be willing to pay extra to stay open late in the night,” he said.

Gaurav Karnani, the owner of the Grid microbrewery in Topsia, said it was premature to comment on footfall on Day 1. “Evenings are the prime time for us. The next few days are very crucial and will help us gauge the mood of people,” he said.