Brisbane pubs spring back to life as Qld restrictions ease

Since reopening, Brisbane’s inner-city pubs have seen the sort of numbers normally reserved for December. But it’s not all cheery.

BRISBANE’S inner-city pubs are beginning to spring back to life, with some making more money now than before COVID-19 struck.

The Montague Hotel in West End has been booked out every Friday and Saturday since reopening on June 5, and credits loyal locals with the surge in business.

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“It’s been difficult playing ‘human Tetris’, but least we’re making good money,” general manager Joshua Webber said.

“We are doing really good numbers, the sort of figures that we do in December.

“We have a lot of loyal locals who have been supporting us… I think having to do table service has actually made people spend more.”

It’s a similar situation over the river at The Paddo, which has seen a spike in business above pre-coronavirus levels.

Management credits renovations done while it was closed, and an injection of cash from government schemes such as JobKeeper, but is uncertain how long the spike will last.

In Caxton St, the Caxton Hotel and Black Hide Steakhouse have been booked out on Fridays and Saturdays.

But Caxton Hotel boss Ross Farquhar and Gambaro group director John Gambaro said there was still a long way to go before they would be turning the profits they once did.

“We’re getting there,” Mr Farquhar said.

“We’ve been able to hire back some of the staff who didn’t qualify for JobKeeper, so that is a good sign.

Nuria Fita and Joan Aranda at the The Montague Hotel. Picture: Josh Woning/AAP

“It’s was heartbreaking after the Broncos game, telling people ‘sorry, don’t bother lining up, we can’t get you in’.

“That was hard work, turning all those people away.”

The situation is far worse for many Queensland’s coffee shops, as new figures reveal 80 per cent of cafe owners believe they won’t recover from recent hardships without third-party support.

The Harris Cafe report, conducted by YouGov Galaxy, surveyed 1000 Australian cafe-goers and small business owners about their fears and hopes in a post-COVID-19 world.

It found two-thirds of Queenslanders were concerned Australia’s cafe culture was dead after the combined hardship of bushfires and COVID-19.

A whopping 98 per cent of Queensland cafe owners said they were worried the decline in regional tourism during the pandemic will negatively impact their business.

“They’re really doing it tough,” Harris Coffee head David Ansell said.

“The best thing punters can do is get back down to their cafes and support them.”

Originally published as Brisbane pubs spring back to life as Qld restrictions ease