P.E.I. restaurants happy to have Islanders back inside

Some P.E.I. restaurants say they're happy to have dining rooms open and customers returning, even if the new normal is a little challenging sometimes.

Restaurants were allowed to reopen dining rooms for the first time since March on June 1, when Phase 3 of the province's plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions began.

There can only be six patrons per table at a time, tables have to be spaced six feet apart, and there can be no more than 50 people in a restaurant at once.

Family & Friends in Kensington welcomed customers back into the dining room on June 1 and owner Charlene Gillsaid there has been a steady stream of people coming through the doors ever since.

"We haven't hit capacity but it's been steady, it's not like one big smash which is nice," she said. "It's just a nice steady flow coming through."

And for the customers who do come in, Gillis encouraged to see them all playing by the new rules as well.

"We have a sanitation station when you walk in, they have to sign when they come in, we have extra staff to seat them and they're listening to everything," she said.

And just from the first week, Gill said she's hopeful about the upcoming summer season, even if it means greeting fewer tourists than normal.

"Our locals have been awesome. So, I'm thinking with the Island they'll all pull together and hopefully everybody gets through it fine," said Gill.

'Weren't sure what to expect'

Slaymaker and Nichols inCharlottetownopened its dining room June 3,down to half capacity withonly six tables inside, but the restaurant was encouraged to see seats filling up for the supper hours over the past week.

People were kind of anxious a bit when they came out. Kevin Murphy, Murphy Hospitality Group

"We weren't sure what to expect. We didn't know for sure, people say they're going to support and your regulars do come back, but people really are doing it," said Steve Murphy, owner of the restaurant.

"It's not back to normal, it's not back to good, it's not at the point where we're making any money as a restaurant. But it's nice that you see there is support there that we can bring staff back, we can get a few more people employed. We can keep the lights on."

Murphy said people were adhering to the rules, and he said he thinks it's because people are used to experiencing similar precautions at other placeslike the grocery store.

"Ninety-nine point nine per cent, if not everybody, was really cautious, very open to letting us decide with them how this is going to go. Very open to making sure we know what we're doing to keep them safe and follow the rules as they need to," he said.

And for staff in the restaurant, incorporating new procedures into old habits is something to get used to. Cleaning high-traffic touch points, for example said Murphy, is something that staff had to work into their daily routine. But, now the restaurant has made one person per shift responsible for cleaning all thosepoints in the building.

"An alarm goes off every two hours they know to stop everything. Make sure all touch points in a bathroom, door handles, all the handrails all get wiped down and once you have that process built it's actually pretty simple to follow. But it was a matter of ... how do you ingrain that into your day when it gets busy," he said.

'Kind of anxious'

Kevin Murphy, president and CEO of Murphy Hospitality Group, told Mainstreet P.E.I. he thinks at firstpeople were hesitant to go back torestaurants.

"We opened last Monday and people were kind of anxious a bit when they came out."

He saidhefelt customers were more at ease when they came inand saw the extra lengths restaurants were going to to keep customers and staffsafe.

"I think people were pleasantly surprised when they came in and I think you know each restaurant did their best, I believe, to have those in place," he said.

But, it wasn't the same as last year.

"Business wise it was probably somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of last year."

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