Some Halifax restaurant owners say the fourth phase of Nova Scotia’s reopening plan has brought an increase in business, but guests still aren’t flocking to dining rooms in the numbers they had hoped for.
Despite the return of the Atlantic bubble, tourism is still not what it used to be, said Liz Ingram-Chambers, owner of Le Bistro by Liz, and physical distancing requirements continue to limit the number of tables she can sit in her South Park Street restaurant.
“We have been seeing some people from New Brunswick and Ontario, which has definitely upped our game as far as business levels are concerned, but it didn’t have a huge effect on us,” she told Global News. “I won’t say it hasn’t been a dismal summer — I lost of a lot of good staff.”
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Despite some of the challenges, Ingram-Chambers said Nova Scotians have done a good job of supporting local restaurants and her regulars have not forgotten her during the pandemic.
She said she’s also noticed some of her guests are spending more when they come in — an effect she chalks up to the isolation of COVID-19 lockdowns.
“We’ll have people ordering steaks and bottles of wine at two in the afternoon,” she said. “It’s more of a dining experience — they’re feeding their soul rather than just grabbing a bite to eat.”
Ingram-Chambers and many other restaurant owners in the province are currently accessing the federal government’s wage and rent subsidy programs, which are set to expire in October.
When those elapse, she said she hopes the leader of the new provincial government steps up to support the food and drink sector.
“It would be nice if they took a little more interest even in little things, like tearing up streets around us.”
Blaring construction, she explained, doesn’t help businesses attract customers, particularly during a pandemic.
She said also hopes public health officials decrease distancing requirements soon, so she and other restaurant owners can squeeze in a few more tables safely.
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Jimmy Zelios, owner of the Blue Olive Greek Taverna on Quinpool Road, said some of his customers have returned in Phase 4, but it’s still not close to pre-pandemic levels. He thinks some customers are being cautious, he said, but he too, pointed to decreased seating capacity in the restaurant.
“When you don’t have the revenue, you have to save in other areas, whether it’s saving on labour or cost-cutting measures in other areas of the business,” he said in an interview.
“Even though things are getting better from the previous lockdowns … it’s not where it should be. We still have a long way to go.”
Zelios said he’s “concerned” and “nervous” about the end of supports like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, but he has no intentions of going anywhere and he’s taking it one day at a time.
According to Public Health officials, Nova Scotia is on track to begin Phase 5 at the end of August. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Strang has previously said that phase could come with some changes to restrictions such as masks and distancing.
Michael Lim, partner and operations manager at the Chain Yard Urban Cidery on Agricola Street said any such changes could help bring normalcy back to the tap room.
“We’re definitely not at full capacity of what we could be, but it’s been a good start,” he said of Phase 4. “Definitely a lot of excitement about being on the patio outside, and our nighttime dinner crowd is busy, but we’re not seeing the big uptick in tourists and daytime customers that we have in the past.”
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He said he’d like to see the provincial government ramp up education on what it means to buy local and listen to the advice of local business associations.
“I think everybody in the small business community understands that the support has to be scaled back at some point, but if they’re listening to certain organizations and they know this organization is really suffering, it would be nice to see some support for that,” he explained.