New COVID measures put stress on local restaurants

By JAMES TUBB on September 17, 2021.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

New COVID-19 vaccine orders are putting restaurants in a unique situation.

New regulations set to take effect Monday require restaurants and pubs to admit only those with proof of vaccination to remain open without operating restrictions, or, for those not wanting to enforce vaccine rules, be limited to outdoor service.

Mario Padilla, owner of the Mexican Hat restaurant, worries the new rules will create friction between them and the public.

“It goes against the actual nature of our business, which is socializing and having a good time with your family and just sit down to a meal. It’s going to be tough on all sorts of restaurants,” he said.

He says he’s worried for his staff that people not allowed in under the new rules will take their frustrations out on them.

“It is stressing because there are going to be people frustrated and they’re going to need to take it out on somebody, and that’s going to be the person trying to co-ordinate who’s vaccinated and who’s not. So it’s a little bit stressing because we don’t know what to expect or how people are going to react to these new measures,” Padilla said.

For Mike Waskalik, owner of the Local Public Eatery, the possibility of customers taking frustrations out on staff is also a concern and he has altered his restaurant’s staffing plans.

“Usually our greeters and hostesses are girls who are too young to serve so they are 16 to 17 years old and don’t have the capacity to manage that sort of energy. So we’re making the decision that it’s going to be management who checks all the vaccination cards because they are just more equipped to handle it,” he said. “We do realize that’s going to be a situation; we hope it’s going to be rare.”

He said the Local will be following the exemption program because he believes it’s the best option to allow his business to run. He says he does have an uneasy feeling about how the decision will be received but is sympathetic to those in the health-care industry right now.

“I think about the ICU beds being full and we definitely gotta do something about that in a bug hurry. If the ICU beds are full and they gotta start making decisions on who lives and who dies, I would hate to be in that position,” Waskalik said.

“I fully support whatever it takes to get this under control and if that’s us having to do this in the interim, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Waskalik asks anyone attending his restaurant to be respectful of those asking for vaccine cards because, “they are just doing their jobs.”

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