Johnny Rafferty, co-owner of the Rose and Crown pub at Yonge and Eglinton.
Relaxed patio rules a reprieve for Toronto eateries facing oblivion
We’ve been doing every single thing we can to stay alive. We’ve postered the neighbourhood with our menus. We’ve done social media. This patio is the first thing that’s made a real difference.
In 43 years of business, the Rose and Crown pub never had a patio — until a few weeks ago.
For co-owner Johnny Rafferty, the new line of tables on the sidewalk in front of the Yonge and Eglinton institution has been a godsend after months of struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been great. If we didn’t have this, we probably wouldn’t have been able to stay open past July 1,” said Rafferty of the temporary patio, made possible thanks to the City of Toronto’s CaféTO program designed to help restaurants struggling during the pandemic.
Like all restaurants and bars in town, the Rose and Crown’s dining room has been closed since mid-March. After blanketing the neighbourhood with flyers, Rafferty was discouraged when only a handful of takeout orders came in. With a three-week-old son — with his wife and pub co-owner, Lisa Duff — there was even more incentive to make things work.
“We’ve been doing every single thing we can to stay alive. We’ve postered the neighbourhood with our menus. We’ve done social media. This patio is the first thing that’s made a real difference. It’s so nice to see some of our regulars again,” said Rafferty, adding that it’s been a happy, laid-back atmosphere.
No one, he said, has been complaining about having to wear a mask to go inside and use the bathroom or pay their tab. “People are just happy to be out.”
While the program has been a hit for those able to open up a new patio, it’s been frustratingly slow and bureaucratic for others. Want your temporary patio to go on private property rather than a public sidewalk? The city’s not even considering those applications until July 13, more than a month after the June 4 announcement of the program. Want to put your patio in a curbside or bike lane? Your application might be caught in a backlog, waiting for a site inspection from city staff.
There have also been conflicting messages from city staff, says Celina Blanchard, owner of west-end favourite Lambretta Pizzeria.
“The first inspector came out and said, ‘OK, you’ll be able to put a couple of tables out front. Then we got an email saying ‘you can’t get put out tables until your patio is approved.’ Then we got another email saying, ‘Go ahead
and put the tables out,’ ” said Blanchard, hoping to set up a patio in a curbside lane on Roncesvalles Ave.
“The last I heard from them was Monday. They said they were backlogged and I needed to wait more,” said Blanchard, who set up two tables in front of her restaurant while she’s awaiting the curbside lane. Meanwhile, her takeout business has slowed dramatically since Toronto entered Stage 2 and existing patios opened up.
“People want to go out, after having been cooped up for so long,” said Blanchard, who nonetheless has been gratified to see her customers again. “Everyone’s been so positive and supportive. It’s been amazing.”
At the Granite Brewery, the brewpub’s existing patios have been busy since Toronto joined Stage 2. Owner Ron Keefe had hoped one of them would be a lot bigger by now, extending into the space in front of two businesses which closed permanently during the pandemic.
“As soon as I got to the part of the form where you had to check off ‘public or private,’ it was, ‘Nope, we’re not even gonna look at this for a while.’ ” .
Julie Kwiecinski, Ontario regional director for the Canadian Federation of Independent
Business, says the City of Toronto’s high hopes for the program haven’t been met with action on the ground: “Summer’s disappearing quickly, and no one’s going to be sitting on a patio in November.”
City spokesperson Jasmine Patrick defended Toronto’s performance, saying that staff from three different departments have been “working around the clock” to get new patios up and running. Patrick added there are no cookie-cutter solutions for different types of spaces; a few tables on a sidewalk is one thing, shutting down part of a road is another.
“Every location has specific and sometimes complex considerations, especially related to meeting important accessibility and safety requirements,” said Patrick, adding that the city has received 774 applications as of Tuesday. So far, 97 sidewalk patios have been approved, along with 28 curb-lane closures, she said.