‘We just want our customers back’: These Hamilton restaurants survived the pandemic, but new challenges are on the horizon

Nearly two years ago, Dan Burcher saw his dreams finally become reality."

Brewers Blackbird - where Burcher is chef and partner - opened and the team hit the ground running. Things were going great," he said, noting they had big plans for the Ancaster eatery, including an in-house brewery.

Then in mid-March, as COVID spread across the province, everything shut down.

We weren't sure how it was going to play out," said Burcher. There was definitely a roller-coaster of emotions trying to figure it all out."

Unprepared for a pandemic, the team got to work on making sure they could survive. They built an online ordering system, created a rotating menu and did everything (they) could to stay relevant," said Burcher.

At one point, they even set the restaurant up as a general store.

For the first few weeks, I went through the whole building and I was taking the flours, the yeast and the grains and putting them up for sale," said Burcher. I was doing everything I could to get cash in the bank."

More than 20 months later, Brewers Blackbird remains open and their long-delayed brewery has started making suds. They're one of thousands of Hamilton restaurants that have made it through the pandemic thus far.

But the service industry isn't out of the woods yet, according to industry experts. Even with Ontario restaurants getting back to a new normal, new challenges have cropped up.

Debt load

James Rilett, Central Canada vice-president at Restaurants Canada, said businesses are starting to add up" how far in debt they are from bank loans, deferred bills and government lending.

The average debt Ontario small businesses accumulated during COVID is approximately $190,000, according to Ryan Mallough of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

It's significant," said Mallough, the senior director of provincial affairs in Ontario. We know among our hospitality members, they are the ones that are both most at risk for closing and also the ones that report that that debt will take the longest to pay off."

Rilett said studies done among members of the organization estimated it will take upwards of two years after the pandemic for restaurants to pull themselves out of the red.

Paying down that debt is something restaurateur Mary Terziev-Clifford is already thinking about. Her family owns a handful of establishments in Stoney Creek, including The Village Restaurant, The Penalty Box, Karlee's Bar and Chippy's Fish and Chips.

Terziev-Clifford said the family took advantage of government funding, with their loans and subsidies totalling into the tens of thousands.

We really needed them," said Terziev-Clifford, who is planning to put money aside to repay the debts. We were trying to keep (the) businesses alive, and they were dying."

Being a relatively new business, Burcher said they didn't qualify for all of the available support, but they used some emergency grants and loans - also in the tens of thousands. Not all of it has to be paid back, but some of it does.

We had no other choice," said Burcher.

Staffing shortages

With nearly all restrictions lifted for restaurants - with the exception of vaccine verification - dining is looking more like its old self.

But even with some patrons eager to eat inside, Mallough said the hospitality industry is facing a labour shortage after a mass exodus" during lockdowns.

Experts estimate nearly 200,000 workers left the sector nationally - and many of them won't be coming back.

That's a big one," said Mallough. In some cases, it's resulting in the restaurant not being able to be fully open, they're having to close parts of their floor or limit their hours."

At Bread Bar on James, the restaurant has closed one day a week due to staffing shortages, and the Hamilton Meat Pie Co. temporarily closed its Westdale location earlier this fall due to not having enough workers.

Mallough's point also resonated with Paul Wells, operating partner of The Black Forest Inn. In a recent interview, he said servers are the most difficult" position to hire for.

Over the summer, Wells said there were days the restaurant had to choose between offering indoor or outdoor dining due to staffing shortages and the weather.

To get qualified people who have been in the business for a while is very difficult," said Wells, who is hopeful that since restaurants are allowed to seat to their full capacity, staffing levels will improve. We just want to get back to normal."

Rising costs

Mallough said the No. 1 issue facing small business owners, including those in hospitality, is the cost of doing business - which he said has increased significantly."

The organization's October survey found a majority of small businesses noted it as their biggest concern" heading into the new year.

Mallough said those pressures are coming from wage increases, rising food costs and the use of third-party delivery services to continue offering takeout.

The reality of rising food costs is something Terziev-Clifford is seeing in her family's restaurant group.

Nearly every time they put together an order for suppliers, an item has gone up in price. She pointed to the cost of a case of bacon, which has nearly doubled from $30 to upwards of $60.

Wells echoed those same concerns. As a scratch kitchen," he said the cost of ingredients and supplies have gone up across the board. For example, the oil they cook with has gone from $1.75 per litre to nearly $3.

When you're looking at raw ingredients to make our food, it's expensive," said Wells. Depending on the item, the price has increased anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent."

Neither restaurant has passed that expense along to patrons.

Our menus are not reflecting what the food costs actually are," said Terziev-Clifford. I don't want to start hiking up prices, we just want our customers back."

A strong close to the year'

Mallough said the survival of restaurants partially relies on consumer confidence," especially as the year winds down and the holiday season begins.

Patios held the industry up throughout the summer, but as the weather cools, outdoor dining is heading into hibernation.

We still need a strong close to the year," said Mallough. And how comfortable people are going to be dining indoors is going to be a real marker of that."

During the holiday season, restaurants across the country are usually bustling with large reservations and private parties - but that feeling was lost last year.

We're really hoping for a good Christmas," said Wells.

That strong finish is even more important as the industry stares down a wage hike set for the beginning of the new year, said Mallough. The province announced last week that liquor servers will be entitled to minimum wage at $15 an hour, a jump of nearly 20 per cent from the previous rate of $12.55.

That's going to add to the urgency," said Mallough. If you see restaurants really thriving this year, that doesn't mean that we're back to normal. They lost last year, so a good year is positive, but it doesn't wipe out a virtually non-existent year in 2020."

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com