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By Shane Clausing
Patios Shuttering Sunday night

Local restauranteurs frustrated with latest round of COVID-19 restrictions

May 5, 2021 | 5:09 PM

With restaurants being forced to shutter their patios for at least the next three weeks after Sunday night because of new public health restrictions, some restaurant owners in Grande Prairie are disappointed by the announcement.

Todd Zahorodniuk, the Owner of The Lion’s Den Pub tells EverythingGP with the weather warming up and people finally starting to dine in-person, the latest restrictions are a bit of a blow for his staff and restaurant.

“It’s a very difficult situation because we have to go back to takeout. We just had our staff starting to get some shifts, getting into the groove, and then we have to shut down again.”

“It’s real frustrating,” said Brad Richards, the General Manager of Mr. Mikes Steakhouse in Grande Prairie. “We are trying to keep some of our staff employed and this reduces some of the hours to them.

Zahorodniuk says he’s hopeful restaurants can get a clearer date for when things could potentially open up again.

“If that (a clear date) could happen, that would be nice. Our staff could then get re-trained, ready to go and we can get into the whole mode. It would be nice to have it where we can actually build up to it.”

Both Zahorodniuk and Richards add the biggest disappointment out of the latest restrictions announcement is the lack of financial support restaurants can receive.

“I don’t know if there’s any more money left,” joked Zahorodniuk. “It’s definitely a disappointment and it’s going to be really difficult to do anything. The last $10,000 they offered up (helped) and hopefully they can do that again and we can get by with our rent and paying our staff costs the last time we were actually open.”

“The whole restaurant industry is suffering,” said Richards. “Some of the money we’ve gotten from the province helps a bit but doesn’t come close to what we need.

“I think there needs to be some more relief because a lot of our bills haven’t gone away. We still have to pay our heat, electricity and property tax.”

The new provincial restrictions on restaurants go into effect on Sunday, May 9 at 11:59 p.m.

The restrictions will remain in place for a minimum of three weeks.

by Shane Clausing