COCHRANE— With the easing of COVID-19 provincial health measures local restaurants were able to open their doors for dine-in customers for the first time in almost two-months.
The Venue Bar & Grill administrator JoAnne Howard said the restaurant opened on Thursday (May 14) and was pleasantly surprised to see a steady stream of people throughout the day.
“We want everybody to come in, feel safe and know that we are doing the absolute best we can,” Howard said. “Everybody is working together.”
She added that the first day back at The Venue felt like a reunion because staff and regular customers were able to see each other for the first time in almost two-months.
“I think everybody is grateful to be back here and to have the opportunity to be social and have good food and some drinks with your friends,” Howard said. “We were all pretty excited to see each other and catch up— It’s like everybody has come home.”
The Venue is finding its COVID-19 groove she said explaining that the pandemic has created a different experience for those working in the industry and customers dining out.
It was a stressful week getting ready for the re-open she said, and staff were busy working hard to ensure they were able to open the doors on Thursday.
“We didn’t know what to expect we had mixed feeling about it,” Howard said. “We have all the safety precautions in place that we need to and we just want people to come in, relax and have a good time.”
It was a good first day she said, explaining that it is a different experience for staff and customers because the restaurant is at 50 per cent capacity. Other health protocols have been put in place she said, including increased cleaning of high traffic areas and high touch objects.
Restaurants are asking customers to show patience especially because they are taking time to ensure anything that is touched is sterilized immediately.
“Hopefully if we keep following the rules and do a good job doing that it will start to feel more normal soon,” Howard said.
Staff at The Venue have the option to wear a mask if they choose and social distancing measures have been put in place.
“I think as time goes on we might see them dropping some of the guidelines, we might see them adding more,” Howard said. “There’s something new every day that we hear about.”
Ducks on the Roof had their doors open to the public at 11 a.m. on Thursday, said waitress Heather Reid.
“I’ve done this for 28-years so it felt very much like coming back to what you know best,” Reid said. "It's like coming home"
Ducks on the Roof had been preparing for reopening for dine-in customers she said— All they were waiting for was the go-ahead from Public Health to open the doors.
“All the staff that are still available and people who feel safe we all came in and sanitized, cleaned and moved measured tables out for social distancing,” Reid said.
It has been day-to-day working with the public guidelines and fluidly adapting to changes in public health measures.
She added that there was doubt they would be allowed to open the restaurant on Thursday given the COVID-19 public health restrictions that remain in Calgary.
Restaurants Canada western vice president Mark von Schellwitz said restaurants that have reopened have seen a relatively smooth process.
“Health and safety is mission-critical to protect both our staff and our guests,” von Schellwitz said.
He cautioned that it will be a slightly different dining experience for customers in comparison to pre-COVID.
“I think you’ll see when patrons come in there’s going to be slightly different service standards then what they’re used to,” von Schellwitz said. “Servers are making sure they can provide service with as little contact with guests as possible.”
Restaurants Canada created a best-practices guide for business before the release of provincial guidelines, von Schellwitz said. He described the guideline as a comprehensive, rapid-recovery guide that includes all necessary procedures in regards to COVID-19 public health measures.
The provincial guidelines for restaurants were published on Monday (May 11).
He noted the decision to reopen has been an individual decision for restaurants, and some are waiting to relaunch until they are certain they can do so safely and comply with public health guidelines.
Those that have reopened can do so with confidence von Schellwitz said and have customer safety top of mind.
“For restaurateurs that don’t do this properly, they’re jeopardizing their brand. They want to make sure that when they do re-open that their guests are feeling comfortable,” von Schellwitz said. “They want to make sure that they’re doing this right.”
The industry is resilient, he said, and they have had to completely reinvent themselves in the last two months.
He noted that many restaurants in the province face an uncertain future and some are unsure if they will be able to re-open their doors given the economic turmoil created by the pandemic.
The extension of the federal wage subsidy and federal rent relief will help, von Schellwitz said, but more support is needed because many restaurants have run out of their cash reserves.
“There’s certainly a lot of costs attached with re-opening and I think some of them are in that situation where they’re not sure if they have the funds available or that they want to get even more in debt trying to re-open,” von Schellwitz said.
In a survey conducted by Restaurants Canada, von Schellwitz said, about 70 per cent of members said they are concerned about the rising level of indebtedness and the ability to pay vendors and rent in the future. He added that under the current public health restrictions in place will be an uphill battle for restaurants to break even.
He noted that the restaurant industry is the third largest sector and employer in the province.
“It’s very much like opening a new restaurant— You have to have a new floor plan, you have to have a new business plan,” von Schellwitz said. “It’s not just business as usual.”
