Restaurant owner optimistic.

Albert Bridge restaurant owner more optimistic after slow reopening day

ALBERT BRIDGE — Teresa Matheson was wondering where the people were after reopening Missy’s Diner on Friday.

It was the first day the diner was open following a closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Matheson expected to see a number of their regulars on opening day.

By noon, they had only served a handful of people. No one at all came into the small diner for lunch.

“Where’s the people, right?” she said on reopening day, looking worried. “We’ll know on Sunday if reopening now was right.”

Sunday mornings are one of the diner’s most popular sittings and Matheson, who co-owns the business, said if they weren’t busy that would be a sign of poor revenues to come.

However, things quickly turned around and by Friday night business at Missy’s Diner picked up.

“We were very busy Saturday night and Sunday. And Friday night too,” Matheson said during a followup interview with the Cape Breton Post on Tuesday.

“I think people … didn’t know who was open and where. We had a lot of phone calls asking if we were open. A lot of people were asking what our COVID-19 protocols are."

Under the COVID-19 reopening guidelines in Nova Scotia, Missy’s Diner can only seat 20 people at a time so losing these seats can hit the eatery hard.

“Our problem is seating. We lose the counter completely,” she said. “We have a lot of couples coming in but not a lot of couple seats. So we lose two seats when we have a couple sit at a (larger) table. We’re looking at if there is any possible seating at the end of the counter.”

Another challenge will be table turnover.

Missy’s Diner regulars like to eat then stay for a chat, explained Matheson. They don’t want to rush anyone but they also know the more people they can turnover, the higher their sales.

This is why the eatery now has a waiting list — staff will take the customer's phone number and call or text when the table is ready.

“People can grab a coffee and go for a drive or something,” she said.

Challenges aside, Matheson said she’s happy they are open again and praised the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and others for their support during the COVID-19 shutdown.

“There’s been a lot of different people and organizations available to help (business owners) out,” she said. “It’s been really helpful.”

NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST Missy’s Diner staff Elizabeth Meade, left, and Colleen Spencer. Although business began slowly on June 5, it’s been picking up making owners and staff hopeful reopening while following the COVID-19 protocols was the right decision.