Restaurants plan to reopen next week as part of Alberta’s phase one economy relaunch

General Manager of Skinny’s Josh Bennett says they’ll closely follow AHS guidelines which will dictate their re-opening plans.

And they feel comfortable about easing into business again and are eager to get back to the new normal.

He says some of their safety measures include having disposable paper menus.

They started sanitizing everything and spacing tables 6 feet apart.

Bennett says they’ve also ordered masks and gloves for their staff.

And want to put up plexiglass in between tables so customers feel more comfortable.

But they are taking it day by day for more government guidelines.

“We want to make sure there’s that 6-foot distancing. We want to make sure that when the customers come in they know what to expect when they come in. So where they need to walk on the floor. Where the sanitizing stations are, where the bathrooms are, and just taking our direction to make sure that it’s safe when they come in. And we’re staying safe, the staff is staying safe, and the customers are staying safe,” Bennett said.

Phase one businesses took part in a telephone town hall on Monday about the relaunch strategy.

Medicine Hat Chamber executive director Lisa Kowalchuk says more specific details haven’t been defined yet.

But the government is looking at the framework with Restaurants Canada.

She says a question at the town hall was about gathering restrictions and the 15 people limit.

Adding, that does not apply to restaurants, rather it’s a 50 percent occupancy rate.

And they want to make the rules easy so businesses don’t have to deal with high conflict situations with their customers.

“They’re also going to be looking at the number of people at a table. So as opposed to businesses and restaurants having to figure out if somebody’s within a family setting or group setting. They’re going to look at it more from the perspective of how many people could be at a table and the distance between tables and how people will wait for their tables. Waiting in their vehicle as opposed to coming in and waiting in the lobby,” she said.

Kowalchuk adds enclosed malls are also included in phase one since retail businesses in malls would also be able to open.

That means food courts will fall under the same restrictions as restaurants.

During the restaurant closures, Skinny’s was able to keep their kitchen open for take-out orders and thanks the community for the steady support.

As for staffing, Bennett expects they will slowly bring back more staff, but it will depend on how busy they are.

“And as long as we set up those precautions so customers feel safe I think they’re going to have a good experience here at Skinny’s. Especially with all the doors we have around we can open them up and have that airflow, just that extra precaution in place so people feel comfortable coming here,” he said.

by Chantal Wagner

Restaurants plan to reopen next week as part of Alberta’s phase one economy relaunch

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