For the next 10 days, restaurants in all of Maryland's counties and Baltimore City will come together to celebrate and support the restaurant industry.Maryland Restaurant Week returns Friday for its second year, and while many restaurants still aren't out of the woods from the COVID-19 pandemic, every bit helps to get back on track.For restaurateurs around Maryland, it has been tough going since the pandemic began; however, with the recent lifting of restrictions, a number of them are now finding themselves in the green once again.Hoping to build on that momentum, the Maryland Restaurant Association is holding its second annual Maryland Restaurant Week in an effort to save what restaurants they can.Levi Smith, a bartender at Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, has seen it all. Furloughed for much of the pandemic, he returned to work in May and said he has seen a steady rise in business."The statewide restaurant week is going to, hopefully, get some more heads in that otherwise wouldn't have known to come through," Smith said.Smith told 11 News that Maryland's second annual restaurant week should add to that momentum."There still is some hesitancy," Smith said. "We get calls, 'Are you guys doing masks still? Are you spacing people out? What’s the deal with that?' But we've been trying to do our best to make people feel comfortable ... and we’re still doing our carry-out for those who aren't so sure just yet."Starting Friday, restaurants all over Maryland can participate, and it's easy. There are no course requirements and no entry fees."They'll be offering specials, some price-fixed menus, a little bit of everything for everybody," said Natalie Singleton, marketing manager for the Maryland Restaurant Association.Singleton said dire projections of restaurants closing during the pandemic turned out to be a much better than originally thought. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was estimated that 40% of Maryland's restaurants would close. It turned out, to date, that number is closer to 15%. But it's still not back to pre-pandemic levels."Fifteen percent sounds great right, but restaurants aren’t back to where they once were still," Singleton said.Singleton said events like restaurant week helps get owners one step closer to back to normal, even though it's still a very windy road."We have people in restaurants indoors. I think, as long as that maintains, everybody will be in a good place," Singleton said.Tap here for more information on Maryland Restaurant Week and which restaurants in your neighborhood will be participating.