Rick Limoges is the co-owner of Sandy's Riverside Grill in Windsor.
Limoges took to social media after it was announced Windsor and Essex County would be heading into the Red Control level of provincial restrictions.
He tells AM800's The Afternoon News that restaurants have put the work in to make their places safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Limoges says a 10-person indoor capacity limit across the board doesn't make sense.
"For a place like Sandy's, which is relatively small, that pinches, but for a larger place it basically closes them down because you can't even pay for your lights," he says. "The concern about that is that it's rather arbitrary."
He says staff are wearing masks, protective eyewear, and restaurants are closing early.
If measures are being adhered to, he doesn't understand why capacity limits can't be based on available space.
"We're sanitizing after everything you touch, we have signs up everywhere. The biggest concern that we have is they're taking some of the advice from public health and they're applying it in a rather arbitrary fashion in some cases," he added.
Limoges staff is confident they can serve customers and still prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"We've been right there in wanting to implement all of these safety measures and we agree with them 100 per cent, but when they start tacking on things that do seem a little bit arbitrary it's rather painful," he says.
Limoges is a past MP for Windsor-St. Clair and former city councillor.
The new restrictions came into effect this morning at midnight and reduce the maximum indoor seating capacity in restaurants from 50 people to 10.
Outdoor dining, take out and drive-thru are still permitted.