Today is the last day for indoor dining before the province reverts back to the modified Step 2 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen Plan.
Under the restrictions, there will be a ban on all indoor dining. Outdoor dining is allowed with restrictions, as well as takeout, drive-through and delivery. The measures will be in effect for at least 21 days (Jan. 26).
Local restaurant owners are frustrated with the measures, taking effect during an already slow time for the industry.
"January is already a traditionally difficult month for restaurants, as many people reign in their expenses after the holiday season," said Sadie Rossano of Gilford Local Eatery, which just opened this past summer on Shore Acres Drive in Innisfil. "Now this means we will have to lay off staff, adapt our menu to be more take-out friendly, and we lose the security of having reservations, which is essentially guaranteed income every day before we open our doors."
Rossano says the restaurants will be offering 10 fixed a la carte menu options with weekly chef features for the winter months.
"Thankfully we opened up during COVID and prepared to have to make rapid adjustments," said Rossano.
Salim Bardai of freshii in Bradford is nervous about the new restrictions and hopes residents will be supportive with ordering take-out and delivery options.
He says it has been a difficult two years, with restaurants in "survival mode" with the increased cost of rent and supplies and the new minimum wage increase which took effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
"We are truly in survival mode," he said. "There is virtually no support and I expect more restaurants will close as sales will drop. It's a shame we keep repeating the cycle as we enter the third year of this pandemic."
Khurram Sultan Khwaja of Bradford's Halibut House says he is not happy with the latest restrictions and that it's been a tough two years in business.
"I really don't know if we can afford another lockdown as a business," he said. "It is not fair that malls are open but we can't have 50 per cent people inside, while we social distance and sanitize everything after use."
Robert Saunders of The Cove Cafe in Innisfil says he will be fine financially, as he has enough money saved to get through the next wave, but feels sorry for his staff who he has had to lay off now for the fourth time throughout the pandemic.
"Happy New Year, you're gone for a minimum of three weeks, but you know when they say minimum it's going to be longer than that," he said. "For us, it hurts us again, especially when we aren't getting any help from the government."
He said the Christmas season this year was a "write-off", as many events were cancelled due to the capacity limits.
"I think this is going to be a big breaker for a lot of businesses, not just the restaurant industry," he said.
Saunders is thankful for the community's support with the restaurant's takeout menu.
"A lot of people that have stopped coming to the diner are still doing takeout, we still have a good takeout business, our fish and chips and things like that are keeping us going," he said.
Noe Martinez Alanis of Hay Caramba in Bradford said he already knew restrictions were going to come back once the province's COVID case numbers started to skyrocket in December.
With the capacity limits set just before Christmas, cutting dining room capacities in half, he said he lost a lot of reservations, including New Year's Eve which is normally one of their biggest nights for business.
"With no alcohol past 10, and closing at 11, everybody cancelled," he said. "Who's going to come when there is no alcohol?"
Although the restaurant was busy with takeout orders on New Year's Eve, not enough money was made due to the lack of alcohol sales, he said.
Hay Caramba had a busy patio season but Alanis says it's not enough and is still struggling to grasp the reality of the latest restrictions during their slow time of year.
"It's been really hard, really tough," he said. But noted the residents of Bradford have been very supportive of his restaurant.
Since the start of the pandemic, Alanis says he hasn't taken one day off of work, helping out in the kitchen where he can due to staff shortages. He says it is hard as the restaurant is his family's only stream of income.
He is trying to remain hopeful and positive about the situation.
"I am confident that we are going to keep open, so far knock on wood, we don't feel like we are going to shut down. With takeouts, we have a lot of supporters," he said. "Keep positive and hopefully this will be over soon and we can reopen again."
Dina Charyk of Brick n Fire restaurant in Bradford says before the capacity restrictions announced before Christmas, they were "right now track", and are setback once again.
"It seemed like we were back to normal and when they changed to 50 per cent capacity everything went to a stop," she said.
She said the holidays and New Year's were slow, which are typically very busy.
"Now back to takeout, not exactly what we signed up for and definitely not very exciting going into work to an empty restaurant," she said.
The government has announced some support programs for small business owners while the measures are in effect. Eligible businesses will receive rebate payments for a portion of the property tax and energy costs. For more information, click here.
