‘Didn’t feel comfortable’: Collingwood restaurant returns to takeout only with COVID-19 cases on the rise

While restaurants in COVID-19 hot spots such as Toronto and York Region are returning to takeout only, Simcoe County businesses have not been forced to return to Phase 2 restrictions.

However, one Collingwood restaurant has decided to shut down its dining room for the time being.

Cassie MacKell, owner of located on made the decision to offer takeout only earlier this month.

“We just didn’t feel comfortable serving members of the public with the COVID numbers being so high,” she told Simcoe.com. “You can do your best to sanitize and not touch anything, but when you’re physically serving people, there is so many points of contact.”

The bar is known for its Asian-inspired menu and creative cocktails, and has developed a following among locals. MacKell said people just want to see the business get through the pandemic.

“We are fortunate enough to have a great following. I think people want to support their local businesses,” she said.

They’re offering takeout from 4 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and customers can order online.

MacKell said a silver lining from COVID was the development of their takeout business.

“As soon as that happened, our takeout business grew, so now going forward, whenever everything is back to normal at some point, we will now have a successful takeout business going,” she said. “We can see how that will be beneficial.”

While it’s the best decision to keep people safe, it’s not the same as a full restaurant full of happy customers.

“It’s not that much fun only doing takeout,” she said. “We miss having people inside, we miss so much bartending and having people sit at the bar making cocktails for them.”

MacKell is hopeful things will turn around and they can open up the restaurant again.

“We really want to open inside; we’re trying to wait until the time is right for us,” she said. “We don’t judge anyone who is open.”