Hospitality

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Current Restaurant and Bar Restrictions: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver

Current Restaurant and Bar Restrictions: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver

by David Klemt

For more than a decade, KRG Hospitality has turned hospitality industry visions into reality throughout Canada.

Currently, we operate in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and the surrounding areas.

We’ve reviewed and gathered the current Covid-19-based restrictions in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia to help current operators and those considering taking the next steps in their journey toward opening their own businesses.

To book a 15-minute introductory call to discuss your project and how we can help you realize your vision, click here.

Toronto

On January 25, the province of Ontario officially extended the current state of emergency (which includes a stay-at-home order) by 14 days by Premier Doug Ford. Had Premier Ford not extended the emergency order, it would’ve expired Tuesday of this week. Unless extended again, it will expire February 11.

What this means for restaurants, bars and other types of F&B establishments is that indoor and outdoor dining are banned currently. Delivery, takeout and drive-through service are permitted.

Individuals face $750 fines (up to a maximum of $100,000) and corporations could be hit with $1,000 fines (up to a maximum of $500,000 for a director or officer) for a violation of emergency orders.

When the state of emergency expires or is otherwise rescinded, Ontario is expected to revert to the regulations found within the Reopening Ontario Act (currently suspended). Should Ontario find itself immediately colour-coded Grey, the current restrictions on restaurants and bars will remain identical: only delivery, takeout and drive-through service will be allowed.

Among other restrictions, a Red control level means restaurants are restricted to indoor dining capacity of ten people, outdoor dining is permitted, customers must be seated and two metres apart from one another, liquor may only be sold within a 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM window, face coverings must be worn except when eating or drinking, and nightclubs may only operate as a restaurant or bar.

Orange level restrictions include a 50-person capacity limit, a maximum of four people per table, customers must be screened before entry, liquor may only be sold between the hours of 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, establishments must close by 10:00 PM, and gentlemen’s clubs must remain closed.

The Yellow control level is marked by the following restrictions: no more than six people may be seated at the same table, liquor may only be sold between 9:00 AM and 11:00 PM, establishments must close by midnight, music levels may not exceed that of a “normal conversation,” and all seated patrons must provide contact information.

Green control doesn’t mean everything is back to pre-pandemic “normalcy.” Tables must still be at least two metres apart, customers must be seated, face coverings must be worn except when eating or drinking, no buffet-style service is permitted, nightclubs may only operate as restaurants or bars, and contact information for at least one person per party must be collected. Restricted dancing, singing, performing and karaoke (no private rooms) are permitted.

Calgary

On December 13, 2020, indoor and outdoor dining was banned throughout Alberta. Current Covid-19-related public health measures and restrictions have been extended until further notice. The province’s restrictions affect restaurants, bars, cafes, pubs, and lounges (and other businesses, of course).

Only delivery, takeout and curbside pickup are permitted in Alberta. However, this is expected to change on February 8, 2021.

Hotels, motels and lodges are open but may not offer access to gyms, pools or spas. Indoor dining is banned but room service permitted. Casinos must remain closed.

Movie theatres, bowling alleys, pool halls and other entertainment businesses may not open for business.

If Alberta returns to the previous relaunch strategy, the province will be subject to a three-stage reopening. However, the document hasn’t been updated since June 2020.

Update: Alberta allowed restaurants and bars to reopen for in-person services yesterday, February 8. Indoor alcohol service must end by 10:00 PM, and indoor dining service must cease by 11:00 PM. Contact information from one person of the dining party must be collected, there’s a limit of six people maximum per table and each individual must be from the same household. Alternatively, the maximum per table for an individual living alone is there two close contacts. Tables must be spaced two metres apart and no entertainment is permitted.

Vancouver

British Columbia is far less restrictive than Ontario and Alberta, at least at the moment. The restrictions in place currently affect restaurants, bars, cafes, cafeterias, coffee shops, lounges, and tasting rooms. Nightclubs, however, must remain closed.

Requirements

  • Unless a physical barrier is in place, customers not in the same party must be at least two metres away from one another.
  • No more than six people may be seated at the same table or booth, even if they’re members of the same party.
  • If seated at a counter, customers must be two metres apart unless they’re in the same party or physical barriers are in place.
  • No more than six customers of the same party may be seated at a counter less than two metres from one another.
  • Businesses that offer self-serve food or non-alcohol drink stations must: ensure alcohol-based hand sanitizer or handwashing facilities are “within easy reach”; signage reminding customers to wash or sanitize their hands before touching anything on the stations and to maintain two metres from other customers must be present; utensils and high-touch surfaces at the stations must be cleaned and sanitized “frequently.”
  • Dance floors must be closed, and karaoke, singing, jam sessions, open mic sessions, and dancing are prohibited.
  • Background music or sounds may not be amplified or exceed the volume of a “normal” conversation.

Further details can be found here.

Last updated: February 9, 2021. Please note that Covid-19 guidance, restrictions and protocols are subject to swift change. One should monitor the country, provinces and cities for the latest updates.

Image: James Wheeler from Pexels

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Tobin Ellis and Barmagic’s Relief Dashboard Contains Hundreds of Restaurant and Bar Resources

Tobin Ellis and Barmagic’s Relief Dashboard Contains Hundreds of Restaurant and Bar Resources

by David Klemt

In keeping with this week’s focus on good news, KRG Hospitality would like to shine a light on Barmagic’s Bar & Restaurant Revival Guide.

First, some background.

Tobin Ellis founded Barmagic of Las Vegas in 1997. He’s done so much for the hospitality industry that it feels almost criminal to just attach a few labels to describe him, but here we are.

Ellis is a hospitality industry innovator, advocate, designer, marketer and consultant. Anyone who has ever attended an hospitality trade show and sat in on a presentation, panel or Q&A session featuring him knows he’s passionate, quick-witted, real-world solution-oriented, and doesn’t suffer pretenders lightly.

He’s also more than put in the work to for the recognition he deserves as an industry icon. Ellis has been in the trenches for decades, beginning his hospitality journey washing dishes in upstate New York. He has worked around the world in essentially every type of venue, from sleepy dives to hyperkinetic high-volume cocktail bars, and everything in between.

A few years back, Perlick partnered with Ellis to create the Tobin Ellis Signature Cocktail Station. This innovative hardware was designed with ergonomics in mind, focusing on improving bar team member’s physical comfort and safety.

Since restaurants and bars found themselves fully in the devastating and nearly inescapable grip of the pandemic, Ellis has focused on the health and longevity of the industry as a whole.

To help operators navigate the pandemic and the myriad challenges (again, a criminal label for what operators and workers have been facing for almost 12 months) it continues to present, Ellis added a Hospitality Relief dashboard to the Barmagic website.

Visitors will find hundreds of links for US- and Canada-based resources, including a relief map for those who need aid or who want to donate to relief efforts. There’s also a link to the Barmagic Bar & Restaurant Revival Guide, a 96-page download loaded with information and ideas that Ellis hopes “might just spark a thought or two” in the minds of restaurant and bar owners, operators, leaders and workers.

We’re not going to get through this if we don’t come together, save as many businesses as possible, and help new venues open and flourish. We applaud the Barmagic relief resources—more like this, please.

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by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

“More help is on the way.” But not for restaurants and bars.

“More help is on the way.” But not for restaurants and bars.

by David Klemt

Speaking about the economic relief package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) struck what can be generously described as tainted altruism.

“More help is on the way,” said McConnell on the Senate floor on Sunday. He also took the time to attempt to absolve Republican leadership of any blame for the glacier-paced movement forward on relief, laying the fault at Democrats’ feet.

To be blunt, both parties have failed the American people and small businesses in terms of providing federal assistance during the pandemic.

After months of inaction on relief—with the exception of a Congressional vote in September that failed to pass in the Senate—and weeks of discussions and partisan sniping, negotiators finally managed to zero in on a bill with a strong likelihood of becoming law.

Yet sifting through remarks made by some politicians regarding pandemic relief over the course of the past several months, variants of the word “prompt” were bandied about.

If the package passes—which is expected to happen later today—members of Congress and Senate will no doubt perform self-congratulatory victory laps for finally doing their jobs after months of failing to do much of anything in the way of relief. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will continue to face life-altering challenges, reaching out for lifelines that are simply not there.

Included in the package are a number of details identified as “key” to both political parties:

  • The ability for businesses that had received Paycheck Protection Program loans which had been forgiven to deduct the costs said loans covered on their federal tax returns.
  • Speaking of the PPP, it will be reopened with over $284 billion intended for small businesses.
  • $12 billion in available PPP funds for minority-owned and “very small” businesses.
  • $15 billion made available in PPP funds specifically for independent movie theaters, live music venues, and cultural institutions like museums.
  • $600 stimulus checks for qualifying adults (and each child in a household) who earned $75,000 or less in 2019. The amount would be reduced for people who earned more. Those who made $99,000 or more last year are not expected to receive a stimulus check.
  • A $300 boost to unemployment benefits for 11 months, with a possible implementation date of December 27.
  • Gig and contract workers enrolled in the PUA or PEUC programs can expect the same $300 boost to their benefits for 11 to 13 weeks.
  • The deadline to spend billions of dollars made available to cities and states via the CARES Act is expected to be extended from the end of this year to be an entire year.
  • $25 billion in emergency assistance for renters.
  • A moratorium on evictions expected to be extended through the end of January.

What’s not in the package expected to be rushed through Congress? Hundreds of billions of dollars in state and local aid Democrats wanted, liability shields for corporations Republicans wanted, the $120 billion RESTAURANTS Act, or the $240 billion Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Recovery Fund.

Despite McConnell’s declaration that federal assistance is on the way, the economic relief plan leaves an industry that employs millions of American workers and contributes hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation’s GDP (four percent before the pandemic) to fend for itself.

Guy Fieri, in all seriousness, has done more for more unemployed restaurant workers than the government, raising more than $21 million in relief funds in under two months.

The hospitality jobs lost due to Covid-19 aren’t expected to return. With more than 110,000 restaurants closed—and counting—the economic impact will be felt nationwide and, in all probability, have global ramifications.

The PPP turned out to be an absolute farce: billions of dollars went to businesses that are anything but small by definition. There’s little reason to believe the process will improve much (if at all) this time around.

And while restaurants and bars have been crucial to nurturing community, connections and culture since inception, they’re clearly not considered culturally relevant institutions by politicians.

With Congress facing an uphill battle in terms of drafting the language for the relief bill and then voting on it, expecting our elected officials to propose, negotiate, draft and vote on a bill for the hospitality industry seems foolish. That means the earliest the industry can expect help—which seems exceedingly unlikely to ever materialize—is in late February of 2021.

Apparently restaurants, bars, and the foodservice professionals they employ aren’t key to politicians on any side of the aisle. Well, not until they need venues to host their campaign fundraisers, that is.

Image: Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Competing Stimulus Plans Fail to Include RESTAURANTS Act

Competing Stimulus Plans Fail to Include RESTAURANTS Act

by David Klemt – 12/3/2020

Talk out of Washington, D.C., about yet more stimulus relief package negotiations is making one thing starkly clear: We’re on our own.

There’s no help coming, not from the federal government.

Unfortunately—but perhaps unsurprisingly—it appears the bipartisan support the RESTAURANTS Act received in Congress was an exercise in optics. The result? Fleeting hope.

Without a signature from the president, it doesn’t matter that Congress voted to pass a revised HEROES Act two months ago. Lest anyone forget, the last time a meaningful Covid-19 relief package was signed by the current president on March 27 of this year.

Another way to put that is that our elected officials haven’t managed to pass a stimulus package signed into law for 251 days. They did, however, find the time for a week-long recess for Thanksgiving.

It was announced just two days ago that a bipartisan group of congresspeople and senators had negotiated a $908 billion stimulus package. The intention was to strike a middle ground between Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) desire for a $500 billion package and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) proposed $2 trillion-plus bill.

Yesterday, multiple sources reported that the $908 billion—which apparently didn’t include the RESTAURANTS Act—was dead on arrival.

Of note, at least to me, is that Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is reported to have mentioned that this week’s touted bipartisan package had been negotiated “over pizza or pasta at people’s houses.” I have to wonder if the pizza or pasta was prepared, provided and delivered by restaurants that are among the hundreds of thousands facing permanent closure if the government doesn’t actually act in a meaningful way.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, on his way to a House committee meeting, reportedly said, “The president will sign the McConnell proposal that he put forward yesterday, and we look forward to making progress on that.”

From what I was able to glean, the RESTAURANTS Act isn’t included in McConnell’s bill either. Neither are stimulus checks nor a federal boost to unemployment insurance payments. Supposedly it does include an extension of the problematic Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); liability protection for schools and businesses; and a $332 million grant for theaters and live venues.

If the tone of this article comes across as angry, I freely admit that’s an accurate assessment. The RESTAURANTS Act was first introduced to Congress on June 15. Elected officials have had 171 days to help the hospitality industry.

The industry that employs more than 16 million people—11 million of which are employed by independent restaurants. The industry that generates well over $760 billion in annual sales. The industry that accounts for 3.5 percent of America’s GDP. The industry that has for years provided venues, food and drinks for elected officials’ countless re-election campaign fundraisers.

The industry that, should tens or hundreds of thousands of restaurants close their doors permanently, will shed millions of jobs that will not return.

And that’s just what’s happening to the industry in the United States. The industry is similarly at extremely high risk for irreversible devastation in Canada and throughout the world.

So, yes—I’m angry. I’m angry that the millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars this industry contributes just to America apparently don’t mean much to government officials.

I suppose I can only blame myself for holding out hope that the RESTAURANTS Act would be signed into law. After all, the president, speaking about restaurants back in March, said, “they’ll all come back in one form or another,” adding, “It may not be the same restaurant, it may not be the same ownership, but they’ll be back.”

They won’t be back. We’ve already suffered permanent closures. There was no prescience—or empathy—in the president’s statement. Let me make this clear: I’m not laying all of this solely at his feet. America’s politicians on all sides have failed the hospitality industry and therefore millions of Americans.

Restaurants, bars, lounges, nightclubs, hotels… This is an industry that consists of incredibly resilient people. There comes a point, however, that even the most resilient need help.

As hospitality professionals fight to return to their feet, bloodied and battered from countless blows, it doesn’t seem that the government is in their corner. Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong, but we’ve been at this crossroads for months now.

Image: Caleb Perez on Unsplash

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