Lacey Holowaty scoops ice cream at Baba Cluck Tuesday. The restaurant is hosting its grand opening Saturday after months of waiting.--NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
While it’s no fault of their own, David and Lorelle Halderman may have picked the worst possible time to open a new restaurant.
That hasn’t stopped the couple’s comfort-food joint, Baba Cluck, from becoming quite popular in southeastern Alberta.
After a few months of ups and downs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair will finally be able to hold an official grand opening for their business.
“We’re excited,” Lorelle said. “We finally feel at a comfort level where we can host a celebration.
“We’re going to be hosting our festivities Saturday outside and the ribbon cutting is at 2 p.m.”
The grand opening will feature entertainment by Tim and Greg Herman, outdoor seating, door prizes, perogie shooters, Co-op member discounts and speeches from a number of different people. It runs from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The restaurant opened March 13 and Halderman says the pandemic has been and interesting ride for the new business.
“We opened and then all hell kind of broke loose,” she said. “We heard about everything that was happening in other countries, but we just tried to keep marching forward.”
As the days passed, the shop received a phone call from a regular customer telling them that he had been exposed to COVID-19.
“After we got that call, we just shut it down for a few weeks,” she said. “It was an unfortunate situation, but you never want to put staff or customers at risk.
“We reopened in April and now we’re trying to figure out what our hours should be.”
The shop continues to add more items to its menu, and will be unveiling two more during the grand opening. It also added soft- and hard-serve ice cream recently. Halderman says the community support has been with the restaurant since Day 1.
“Redcliff, Medicine Hat and Cypress County – people have been so supportive,” she said. “We’re hoping to pick up momentum here and continue growing.”
