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The Health of Thunder Bay’s Restaurant Scene in a Pandemic

The Walleye

For Thunder Bay’s growing food services industry, COVID-19 is a test of resilience. This is especially true for the restaurants that rely on indoor dining to pay the bills. Fortunately, many local establishments have adapted to the situation. Most remain open, taking measures such as simplifying menus in response to supply-chain disruptions, implementing contactless take-out or delivery, or making the jump to Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats. More recently, patio dining has expanded around the city as well.

COVID-19 represents a speed bump for the continued growth of Thunder Bay’s food scene. For locals, it comes as no surprise that the past five years have seen considerable growth in the food and accommodations industry—between 2015 and 2019, the number of establishments in the city increased by over 10%. Over the same period, the respective industries of Sudbury and North Bay have experienced little growth, while Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora, and Timmins have seen a decline.

The Walleye

Thunder Bay’s growing restaurant industry is an outlier in Ontario’s western, northern, and central regions. Part of the reason for this is the rise of locally owned and operated restaurants, which are more likely than chain restaurants to source their food locally. While Ontario’s northern and western regions generally have poor soil for agriculture, the Kaministiquia and Slate River Valleys are nutrient-rich, giving local restaurants lots of options for local food suppliers. Since sourcing locally means there is less distance between restaurants and suppliers, ingredients are fresher, which can give local independent restaurants an edge over their externally owned competition.

In Thunder Bay, places like the Sovereign Room and Eat Local

Pizza emphasize the quality of their ingredients, which mostly come from surrounding farms. Eat Local particularly exemplifies this—they proudly make their pizzas with local ingredients, while also promoting other local brands like Heartbeat

Hot Sauce and the Nor’Wester Maple Company. And it is paying off: Eat Local is among the highest rated and most popular pizza places on Google Maps.

Thunder Bay’s restaurant industry has seen a rejuvenation in recent years. The uncertainty of a global pandemic poses unique challenges to all businesses, but local restaurants that have cultivated a loyal customer base are in a better position to weather the storm. For the city’s favourite restaurants, COVID19 is simply another obstacle to overcome.