Spec poll: Restaurants eye patio season as diners divided on eating indoors
With the threat of COVID-19 still looming in Hamilton, a recent Spectator poll found respondents remain hesitant to dine indoors, leaving restaurant owners eager for a patio season comeback.
I think spring and summer definitely hold a lot of hope for us and will allow us to return to some form of normal, with people dining outside and feeling a little bit more comfortable inside," said Cory Tower, owner of Caro restaurant.
During the shutdown, Tower's two Hamilton locations on James and Ottawa streets relied exclusively on takeout orders. They reopened to indoor dining on Feb. 17 - one day after Hamilton entered the red-control stage of the provincial framework - with plans to dust off patio space as soon as possible, weather permitting.
A 10-person limit for indoor dining in the city means a full evening service currently tops out at about 30 people a night, Tower said. It's not a ton of guests, but everyone's been super supportive and excited to be back."
When the province lifted its stay-at-home order in Hamilton, allowing local businesses and restaurants to reopen subject to health restrictions, The Spectator invited readers to share, through an online poll, whether they feel comfortable returning to those businesses.
More than 2,200 people responded, with nearly half - 48.2 per cent - saying they are very uncomfortable" dining in a restaurant. Most of those respondents were over 50 years old.
Hamilton resident Bryan Drown hasn't eaten out since the restrictions were lifted last month, although he and his wife are looking forward to it."
I think it's important to help the restaurants get back on their feet," the 80-year-old added.
Drown also said he is keen for his turn to be vaccinated - he'll feel more comfortable in a restaurant then - although I'm not looking forward to the jab."
When it comes to buying takeout, again roughly half of respondents - 49.4 per cent - said they order meals either less than once a week or never, with the remainder ordering once a week or more.
Despite the option to return to indoor dining, Staicha Kidd, owner of The Hearty Hooligan vegan restaurant, said her restaurant will continue offering takeout only.
Ever since we shut down dine-in and ramped up the takeout, things have been consistently busy and we ended up picking up a lot of new customers," said Kidd, who also owns People Under The Staircase. Employee safety is incredibly important to me," she said, adding that the narrow layout at her vegan restaurant would not be ideal for physical distancing if diners and staff were to share the space.
Heidi VanderKwaak, chair of the Locke Street BIA and owner of Donut Monster, is also keeping her large seating area closed. She is sticking to window service in order to maximize the room that staff have to work safely, she said, weary of having to change her operating model back if the case counts rise.
I know that right now, what we're doing is compliant with the very strictest of measures and as long as I keep it that way, I don't have to rethink that decision over and over again," she said. Other businesses don't have that luxury."
As for the 23.5 per cent of poll respondents who said they already feel very comfortable" dining indoors, VanderKwaak said it's surprising." She also said with reduced capacities, it means restaurants will still be booking up."
(W)ith only 10 people allowed at any given time, that 23 per cent of people that is comfortable is likely filling up every reservation available at a lot of restaurants," she added.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter at The Spectator covering Hamilton-based business. Reach her via email: visai@thespec.com.
How we did it
With local businesses and restaurants reopening in Hamilton with pandemic-related restrictions, The Spectator conducted an online poll to find out whether our readers are ready to head back out into the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 12-question, predominately multiple choice Google Forms poll was posted on thespec.com for roughly one week in late February and generated 2,218 responses.
Most respondents were between the ages of 35 and 64, and nearly two-thirds were female. Respondents were not required to be Hamilton residents, and were not limited to responding once per person. The results of the poll are not scientific.