Ontario will begin to gradually reopen its economy on Wednesday, but here in Windsor-Essex we'll have to wait a bit longer and that's not sitting well with one restaurant owner.
Locally, the stay at home order has been extended until next Tuesday when we'll hear what colour restriction we'll be in — if the region remains in grey, retail stores can reopen with 25% capacity, but restaurants still can't offer indoor dining.
Fil Rocca of Mezzo Restaurant is calling the restrictions unfair as many dining establishments have already folded or are on the verge of closing their doors.
He says short notice just doesn't work in the restaurant business.
"It's like when they locked us down before," he says. "We had a ton of product that we had to discard because it went bad. We'll definitely need a good two or three days to get organized and get reopened with the staff and everything else."
An undated photo of Mezzo Restaurant and Lounge on Erie St. E. at Marentette Ave. (Photo courtesy of www.facebook.com)
Rocca says restaurants are hurting and the government doesn't seem to care.
"It hasn't been good," says Rocca. "Our takeout, it's existent, but it's not that busy. So it hasn't been good. We're not paying the bills with the takeout, that's for sure. Definitely not happy that we're not on that list to open up February 16."
He says most restaurants have spent big money on safety protocols only to be told they can't reopen.
"We're all taking extra precautions to keep everybody safe," he adds. "A big box store, I think I saw something at one of the stores they're only allowing 350 people in at one time and you can't have 10 people in a restaurant that can hold 190. It's literally comical."
Next week, all regions except Toronto, Peel and York are set to move to the province's colour coded restrictions framework.
The category each region will be placed in will depend on local case rates.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides