STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
Photo: dreamstime.com
By Shane Clausing
restaurants ready to open

Grande Prairie restauranteurs pleased with latest re-opening plan

May 27, 2021 | 12:52 PM

Some Grande Prairie restauranteurs were happy to hear the Alberta government’s “Open for Summer” plan.

The “Open for Summer” plan was unveiled on May 26 and laid out a fairly clear path for restaurants to be able to return to near-normal operations, which could happen as early as July.

Starting on June 1, restaurants and bars will be able to open their patios for outdoor dining, with a maximum of four diners per table from the same household.

Once 60 per cent of Albertan’s receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and hospitalizations drop below 500, limited indoor dining at restaurants will be allowed to continue two weeks after that benchmark is reached.

When 70 per cent of Albertans get their first COVID-19 shot and hospitalizations remain low, restaurants will be allowed to open at full capacity two weeks later.

Since the announcement on Wednesday, Todd Zahorodniuk, the Owner of the Lions Den Pub says his staff are eager to get back to work.

“Our staff have been texting and they are all ready to get back to work. With the patio being the first thing (to open) that will get us into gear until we can almost completely open… Everyone is excited and its going to be a lot of fun.”

Brad Richards, the General Manager of Mr. Mikes Steakhouse in Grande Prairie says the thing he’s most happy about in the reopening plan is that they finally have a clear timeline for when they can fully open.

“I’m quite optimistic. We are excited to be open and bring the staff back to work. We have a timeline and goals that we can follow, so it’s definitely a relief,” said Richards. “You can set your goals, you can plan and order in some supplies. Everyone can be excited knowing what their life holds in a few weeks.”

Zahorodniuk tells EverythingGP with the green light to fully open in the coming weeks, he’s already planning for how things will hopefully look come July.

“We are already starting to put some feelers out at some live (local) music to come in. I really want to see what this room is going to be like with a couple of bands inside,” said Zahorodniuk.

“Getting everything rolling when we can actually have a full room is going to be exciting for us. We haven’t had that yet, because when we opened the new pub, we were still under the COVID rules.”

Zahorodniuk mentioned that anyone looking for work should try to apply at a bar or restaurant as many will likely be looking to hire people because of the re-opening.

by Shane Clausing