Full capacity, no passports — a refreshing return to normalcy, restaurants say, as first week sees customers flocking in

The first weekend in Toronto since capacity and vaccine passport mandates were fully lifted since the pandemic began saw customers flocking to restaurants, business owners say — even at restaurants where vaccine passports are still being checked.

At Church St. pub Hair of the Dog, this past week has been a refreshing return to normalcy, said co-owner Keir MacRae. Though sales had been down since early December, since March 1, sales have reached pre-pandemic levels, he said.

“Restrictions being lifted is just another indicator that people use to decide whether they’re going to go out or not.”

Even the noise of a busy dining room was music to MacRae’s ears this weekend. His staff from him — who are all vaccinated according to the restaurant’s policy — are happy to have more hours and more tips, MacRae added.

People seem happy to be back out, he said, especially regular customers, and it’s creating a sense of hope among Church St. business owners for the upcoming patio season.

“I think there’s a lot of optimism on the street,” said MacRae.

Michael Evangelo, co-owner of the family-owned Dundas Street Grille in Etobicoke, said the family talked about whether to keep checking vaccine passports after March 1.

But around 80 per cent of their customers are regulars, he said, some of whom come in more than once a day and would need their vaccine passports checked numerous times. So they opted to drop them.

The week of March 1 was a decent week for business, said Evangelo. He knows some people might still not be comfortable going out to eat, but patio season is right around the corner, and he’s cautiously optimistic about the months to come.

It’s a strange time to work in the restaurant industry, said Evangelo: “It’s a lot of wait and see.”

Paul Bognar, president and chief operating officer of restaurant operations group Service Inspired Restaurants, which owns and operates franchises such as Jack Astor’s, Scaddabush and Canyon Creek, said the company saw a bump in traffic when capacity restrictions were lifted, and another bump as of March 1.

Now, the restaurant’s sales are only down around 10 per cent from pre-pandemic numbers, said Bognar, though suburban locations in particular are seeing a resurgence.

Urban locations, meanwhile, are still a little slower, he said, because many workers are still telecommuting instead of coming into the office. Some of the restaurants are staying closed for lunch a few days a week, he said.

But overall, Bognar and the staff who run the company’s restaurants are feeling positive about the coming months.

“They’re feeling like there’s some hope now,” he said. “People are just clamoring to get together.”

Hemant Bhagwani, who owns multiple restaurants in Toronto including Goa Indian Farm Kitchen, said leading up to March 1 he was nervous and hopeful.

It felt like opening a restaurant for the first time, said Bhagwani.

Foot traffic has been up, though not at pre-pandemic levels, he said, but takeout continues to be strong.

“Yes, they’re coming out, but I still feel people are a little bit nervous,” he said.

Some customers are worried about indoor dining without vaccine passports, said Bhagwani, while others offer the information unprompted. Masks are still required at restaurants when not seated.

Like other restaurateurs, Bhagwani is optimistic about spring and summer, and is investing in training his staff to prepare them for a busy summer.

But some restaurants — and their customers — aren’t ready to lift restrictions, with some opting to keep checking vaccine passports. Several Toronto mainstays have posted to social media to let customers know they will continue asking for proof of vaccination, and some have received strong backlash for that decision.

At North York’s Times Square Diner, not much changed when March 1 came and went.

Owner Peter Roubos decided to keep checking vaccine passports for the time being. It makes him and his employees feel safer, he said.

But the decision hasn’t stopped the restaurant from enjoying a spike in customers.

“The weekend that just passed was probably the busiest weekend we’ve had since the pandemic started,” he said.

A very small percentage walked out, said Roubos, “but that’s OK” — they can get takeout, he said, or wait until the patio opens.

“I think we made the right decision,” said Roubos, adding that while the business has received backlash online, he doesn’t believe the people behind it are his customers.