Regina restaurants react to new public health orders

Patio season has been temporarily pushed back, at least in Regina and surrounding area.

All restaurants and licensed establishments will be making the return to takeout and delivery only following the return of stricter COVID-19 measures in Regina.

The recent rise of cases in the region has resulted in strict public health measures, some of which have major implications on restaurants in the city.

Tim Rogers, the owner of the Lancaster, says he’s feeling a lot of deja vu.

“It’s ironic that we’re right down to almost a year to the day where this happened last year,” he said. “And now we’re doing the same thing again.”

Starting on Sunday at 12:01 a.m., takeout and delivery will be the only option for people looking to eat from their favourite restaurants.

“There’s no business model that allows us to succeed doing takeout and delivery, but there’s also no business model that allows us to succeed with the recurrent restrictions we have now,” Rogers said. “We all have to try and stay positive and do whatever we need to do because we want this over with and we want this done.

“This is more going backwards and it sucks, but it is what it is.”

Thomas Siarkos with Memories Dining reiterated a similar message.

He says he felt a strong sense of disbelief when he heard the initial news on Tuesday afternoon that he would have to return to business models from almost one year ago.

“I really thought that we were going the right way and then wow, just wow,” Siarkos said. “I’m not very happy about it but we need to do what we need to do.

“It’s going to be difficult. It’s unfortunate that we have to cancel all our future reservations.”

On Tuesday, Mayor Sandra Masters spoke about the importance of supporting restaurants throughout the city during this return to previous measures.

“If you can call for some takeout or do some curbside pickup, please do so,” Masters said. “We need to help them work through their inventory to reduce the cost of the restrictions on them.”

Masters noted restaurants haven’t necessarily been a common place for people contracting the coronavirus, with the real problem being people bringing it into their places of work from private gatherings.

The measures are to be in place until April 5, but could be extended longer depending on the way that cases trend.