The owner of Mezzo Ristorante & Lounge is hoping this will be the last province shut down for restaurants.
The Government of Ontario announced the reopening of restaurants and other facilities to be set for January 31 more than a week ago, after a month long closure due to COVID 19 cases being on the rise.
Fil Rocca says he is excited to reopen, as the shutdowns have hurt the restaurant financially.
"Bills are accumulating, it doesn't take long for them to accumulate in a restaurant business, so there's a little bit of back up on some bills," he continued. "I'm just looking to serving our customers again and hopefully paying back a lot of the COVID debt that we've accumulated, due to the closure and get back on track for the future."
Rocca says most of the closures have been similar but this one hurt December sales significantly.
"When they announced the restrictions in early December it really destroyed our December, over 50 per cent of our reservations and Christmas parties were cancelled. Our New Years Eve was 50 per cent lower than usual, take out was okay but take out is never really good for restaurants like ours in regards to a little bit more fine dining."
He says take out and heated patios have not been very effective in their restaurant.
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"We do have a few heaters but we decided not to entertain the outdoor space at all. We definitely need to stay open to survive pretty much, that's it, not only for the small businesses but for the mental health of Canadians," Rocca said.
Mezzo Ristorante & Lounge is set to reopen on Tuesday, February 1, as they are normally closed on Mondays.