Eateries eager to reopen under guidelines, hope customers return

Owner Rob Chyzowski is thrilled at the prospect of reopening Belleville’s Watering Hole and Diner in the next few weeks, noting his large patio space could be helpful.

Premier John Horgan has announced a staged plan to reopen the economy after the coronavirus led to shutdowns for many businesses.

Chyzowski is waiting to see what restaurants will have to do to comply with new safety rules, but he said whatever it takes to get open again is fine with him.

“It’s about being back in the game,” he said.

Restaurateur Mike Murphy, who owns 10 Acres Bistro and Commons, is preparing to open in the next few weeks, though he’s still not clear what the guidelines will be for them.

Murphy said the green light to open with some changes to the restaurant is a good start, but he warned it’s not a longterm solution. “Restaurants can’t exist on social distancing. We can do it for a few weeks, but it really doesn’t work.”

The guidelines for restaurants do not appear to have been set in stone yet, but according to the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, they will likely include spaced-out seating and tables, limited table numbers, transparent barriers in some places, greater use of outdoor spaces and patios, no lines, and some staff wearing masks and gloves.

Murphy said whatever it takes to increase public confidence is important to the long-term health of the restaurant industry.

While he doesn’t expect to have trouble getting his staff to come back, he worries some operators could struggle to lure workers away from the government benefit packages that rival some server and kitchen-staff wages.

Jeff Bray, executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, said while the scope of sectors covered by the provincial announcement was a pleasant surprise, there are costs to reopening. Businesses might have spend money to build up their merchandise and bring staff back, while wondering if customers will return. They will be operating under new guidelines from WorkSafeBC and want to adhere to advice from B.C.’s provincial health officer.

It’s still a challenging time, Bray said. “It is going to be so important for Victorians to find ways to support those small and middle-size businesses.”

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps praised the province’s approach to re-opening the economy.

“I think it’s just like the government’s response has been throughout the pandemic,” she said. “It’s thoughtful and measured and practical and guided by good public-health advice.”

Helps said she’s been meeting twice weekly with business leaders throughout the pandemic, and is revising the city’s economic action plan to help businesses recover.

“Certainly, we need to take a careful, measured approach and I think customers will need confidence to come back into businesses, restaurants and retail outlets and so forth,” she said.

“So I think it’s great that WorkSafe is going to be providing those guidelines.”

As well, she said the city will be working with the Downtown Victoria Business Association to develop a toolkit that will help businesses adapt.

“I think the city has a real leadership role to play in making sure, through our Business Hub, that all businesses have the same information and the right information to instill consumer and customer confidence.”