First dinner sitting without vaccine passport goes well for Regina restaurant

Vaccine passports are now a thing of the past in Saskatchewan, so how do the businesses they affected feel about the move?

Restaurants have dealt with restrictions from the early days of when COVID hit the province. From full-on closures to capacity limits to the vaccine passport, they’ve dealt with many bumps along the road.

Now, however, there’s some optimism from at least one restaurant owner. Thomas Siarkos runs Memories Dining & Bar in downtown Regina.

Monday marked the first day since October that unvaccinated customers were allowed in without a negative test, and that nobody had to prove their vaccine status.

It also happened to be Valentine’s Day.

All of that made for a great night for Siarkos, his staff and his customers.

“It was very nice, very fruitful. People were happy and our staff was happy as well,” he said.

For one, there’s the practical point that his staff’s jobs are now easier without having to ask for proof of vaccination.

“We didn’t have to spend so much time with passports and IDs and all of this stuff. It went very smooth,” he said.

Some have worried that removing the vaccine passport would actually lead to a drop in business, because it’ll make some people avoid restaurants over fear of the virus.

Siarkos doesn’t think so, instead taking an optimistic look at the state of his business.

“There will be some people that will be hesitant, especially the older people, but I think right now the majority of people are ready to come out. I think our business will flourish. It’s about time,” he said.

“I get this feeling from my customers and I think that’s going to be the case. I think we’re looking to rebound pretty soon here.”

The mask mandate will also be lifted soon. As of March 1, people won’t have to cover their faces to go to an indoor public place.

When asked whether he thinks that’s a concern for customers who are used to mandates, Siarkos said he didn’t think so.

“I think that, judging from (Monday) night, a lot of them, they make mention that they cannot wait to get out of the masks. They’re vaccinated and they felt pretty good about it. My staff is waiting for the same kind of reason, and they’re feeling pretty excited about it,” he said.

While there won’t be any COVID restrictions on customers, Siarkos said his restaurant still has advantages for those who might be a little worried.

“The regulars will come back because they know that our place is very comfortable, very spaced out and a server would never crowd people in,” he continued.

However, one thing was a little out of the ordinary for a Valentine’s Day dinner service.

“There was a lot of love in the air, there was a lot of young couples, but I think this is maybe the first Valentine’s that we didn’t have an engagement, unless it had happened and no one notified us. But normally, the guys will come out and they will tell us how to go about it. They’re a little bit nervous,” he said.

“I saw a lot of love, but no engagements.”