Cafe anticipates busy weekend as restrictions ease

A Goondoon St cafe will make the most of eased restrictions, welcoming customers for dine-in from Saturday.

Janene Cree said she and her staff are excited to have the opportunity to serve customers dining in this weekend.

GLADSTONE'S Fresh Fix is one of several cafes in the region that are taking advantage of the Queensland Government's eased COVID-19 restrictions this weekend.

From 11.59pm on Friday a raft of changes will be introduced regarding COVID-19 policy, including dining in at cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels, with up to 10 people being allowed.

Fresh Fix cafe owners Tim and Janene Cree have never experienced a downturn in business like the one they did when COVID-19 restrictions were introduced.

"We did have to change our business model to suit the new environment," Mr Cree said.

"We did make the switch to a dinner menu, but we have stopped that now in order to focus on our normal operating hours.

Mr Cree said there was a lot of anticipation within the staffing group that they are effectively reopening their doors.

"Absolutely, we are all quite excited to get more staff employed and to give them more hours," he said.

"Customer takeaway has been very good, but they have been waiting for their opportunity to come in and enjoy a meal and a beverage inside."

Mrs Cree added: "We have had people tell us they will be waiting at our doors for us to open at 6am Saturday morning."

Mr Cree said the Gladstone hospitality industry would make a comeback.

"I am confident the sector can bounce back," he said.

"We are not so much a tourism town but an industry town.

"Places which depend on their tourism industry like Yeppoon, Townsville and Cairns will be decimated for quite a while."

Mr and Mrs Cree have opted to keep using the same menu, however Mr Cree said regular breakfast and lunch specials would continue to feature heavily.

"We are sticking with the same menu, but we are always putting on specials for lunch and brekky menu," he said.

When asked to invite the community in for a meal and beverage this weekend, Mr Cree said they were self-inviting.

"Our customer base is very strong and with that in mind they need no encouragement to be invited," he said.

"We have been informed many people are going to be here, and we are anticipating we will be very busy."

In order to enter the cafe and be seated at a table, Mrs Cree said Fresh Fix was following all the governmental guidelines.

"Before entering customers will have to sanitise their hands then write down their names, addresses and phone numbers," she said.

"The reason being if anyone comes down with coronavirus symptoms after they dine here, we are able to use it as a trace element."

Do you know a cafe in the Gladstone region which is open with the option of dine-in this weekend? Let the community know in the comments section.