Coronavirus: Gold Coast eateries have mixed views on relaxing COVID-19 rules to allow 10 patrons

Gold Coast eateries have had a mixed reaction to the relaxation of social distancing guidelines. One owner says the decision to reopen is not about money – it’s about jobs.

SOME Gold Coast eateries offering two-hour sittings from next Saturday are already booked out but others say a 10-patron limit is not enough to open the doors yet.

On Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed restaurants and cafes could open this Saturday – with up to 10 patrons at a time with bookings essential.

For some it was a welcome development for an industry brought to a standstill by measures to kerb the coronavirus pandemic.

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Those Gold Coast operators planning to try to get back to business already have waitlists and have been inundated with calls for one- and two-hour slots they are making available.

Bar and restaurant operator Scott Imlach said he would reopen Mermaid Beach’s Bine Bar & Dining and Burleigh Heads’ Mr Hizola’s.

Bine Bar and Dining owner Scott Imlach will be opening the doors of two venues on Saturday. Picture: Jerad Williams

Bine will be doing two, two-hour sittings every Friday and Saturday night while Mr Hizola’s would open for six or seven one-hour sittings. Both will continue to offer takeaway.

“The reason we are reopening is to try to keep more people in work,” Mr Imlach said.

“It’s not about money at this stage – we just want to break even and get people back in jobs.”

Mr Imlach said staff were setting up other venues to ensure they could open when they got the go-ahead.

Bine already had a wait list.

“We are getting a lot of people saying they just want to get dressed up and go out with the girls,” Mr Imlach said.

But for up-market Moo Moo Restaurant at Broadbeach, opening on Saturday will not be a goer.

Moo Moo owner Steven Adams said: “We would need to have 100 people to make it viable.”

Mr Adams said he understood and supported a slow and cautious path back to normal operations.

He said opening and having a virus outbreak that triggered another shutdown could be a “death knell” for some.

Moo Moo Restaurant in Broadbeach will have to stay closed for longer because opening for just 10 guests is not viable.

“I can’t even imagine having to do this all again,” he said.

Mr Adams said the restaurant would remain closed until stage three – allowing up to 100 patrons – kicked in July.

That downtime will be used to deep clean, paint and complete minor renovations.

Surfers Paradise Costa D’Oro Italian restaurant co-owner Nuccia Fusco was left scratching her head about the patron limits and says they will struggle to make enough to cover wages but will reluctantly open the venue’s doors.

“(But) 10 people? What is the point?” she said.

“We can’t bring staff back for 10 customers. We will do it and have a table set up for 10 or two groups of five.

“But we can’t put any staff on and certainly can’t make any money out of that.

“I’m hoping that enough operators will complain and they will make it about space required not customer limits.

“If they are doing this for safety they should do it based on the 1.5 metre rule.”

Main Beach’s Shuck restaurant owner Scott Budgen was delighted by the guidelines and three-stage plan.

“Shuck is back in business baby,” he said.

Mr Budgen said his phone had been “ringing off the hook” since Friday.

“Although 10 people at once is quite small, it’s a step in the right direction and at least we can open our doors,” he said.

At the Grand Dynasty restaurant in Broadbeach’s Oasis mall co-owner Ken Zeng was thrilled by the ability to open doors. “Even with limited numbers, we are just overjoyed to be able to open our doors,” he said.

Two new Queensland coronavirus cases were confirmed yesterday, linked to the Cairns region and Brisbane southside. No new cases emerged on Saturday.

The Gold Coast’s total number of cases was revised down from 196 to 194 yesterday due to false positives.