The Quebec government is still allowing restaurants to operate at 50 per cent capacity and only until 10 p.m. However, some Montreal restaurant owners are going above and beyond government directives to protect staff and clients ahead of the Christmas holiday.
“We wanted to just close, shut down,” said Arthurs Nosh Bar owner Alexandre Cohen.
The restaurant owner spoke to Global News inside his completely empty dining room — a rare sight for the Saint-Henri brunch spot, which is a full house on weekends and even weekdays.
Arthurs Nosh Bar is closing its doors until at least Dec. 30. They want to keep their staff safe with COVID-19 cases skyrocketing in the province.
“We decided that it was better not to take any necessary risk right before the holidays, to make sure that our staff get to spend time with their families because some of them didn’t last year,” said Cohen.
While he said it’s the right decision, the ongoing pandemic is proving relentless for small business owners.
“As a business owner, it’s depressing. It sucks,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. All we can think about is the safety of our staff. The safety of our children.”
Other restaurants across the city, including Vesta and Hélicoptère, made the decision to close their dining rooms over the weekend as a precautionary measure, some because of outbreaks.
Monkland Tavern closed its 52-seat dining room on Friday.
“One of our waiters did test positive last week and the rest of us are negative. But it just really hit home and scared us and we realized that this is not going away and it’s very rampant,” said Monkland Tavern co-owner Barbara Irwin.
The local favourite is pivoting once again, selling pre-made food and wine inside the restaurant until Dec. 23.
“Last time it took like weeks before we knew what we were doing but we’ve already sort of hit our stride and it was like a game of pickup,” said co-owner Josh Crowe.
While it may not be a popular opinion, the co-owners say indoor dining should be closed like theatres, gyms and bars.
“We’re no different than any of these other places, the only thing is they’re standing with their masks off or whatever. So it’s stupid,” said Crowe.
Prior to the closure, Monkland Tavern had 30 cancellations, so Irwin questions who still wants to eat at restaurants.
“I don’t think people are going out, like, even if they are open till 10:00. I don’t think there’s a lot of people that are comfortable going out and dining in public,” she said.
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