Where to eat before summer ends
Time Out’s JP Karwacki encourages readers to take advantage of outdoor dining on streets closed to traffic while summer lasts.
Are people going out to eat? Since mid-March I haven’t eaten in any restaurant, or even gone out for coffee. I’ve had food delivered on a few days when I reached evening and thought if I had to eat my own cooking one more time I’d die, but aside from that, nope.
walkerp 09:23 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
We have not eaten at a restaurant, indoors or out, since it all started. We have done much take out.
MarcG 09:53 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
I also haven’t eaten at a restaurant but done a bit of ordering in and treating the packaging like poison. I pass by a popular restaurant while jogging in the morning and it’s been full of old people eating breakfast since they reopened.
JFP 09:59 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
I have gone to the restaurant (larger ones that can actually do 2m between tables) and to patios semi-regularly over the summer. Took appropriate precautions and am still alive to tell the tale.
Jake 11:01 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
I walk down Bernard in Outremont almost every day and the terrases at Brasserie Bernard, Enfants Terrible and their neighbours are always full, so there definitely are a lot of people going out to eat.
Blork 12:12 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
We haven’t eaten-in at a restaurant since mid-March, but we’ve done take-out maybe seven or eight times since about June, plus a few drive-thru burgers at lunch time. But we’re lucky in that I seem to be a decent cook, so we’re not exactly suffering.
I think the only terrace we’ve been to is the one on St-Denis in front of La Dépendance, last week. There was barely any car Traffic on St-Denis, so it was kind of nice. That was last Wednesday at around 11:00AM and it felt like Sunday at 8:00AM (in terms of traffic).
Then we went downtown, and that was a whole other situation…
JP 19:11 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
I haven’t eaten out at all either or even ordered take-out, except once. At some point, I was also tired of eating the same meals over and over, and decided to try MakeGoodFood and Hello Fresh meal delivery services. It was nice to have new recipes and flavors. I won’t be ordering from them every week, but I did find the meals were quite good and different from what I usually make.
The one time I walked down Bernard, it looked really, really busy…you wouldn’t even think we were in a pandemic. I have been tempted at times to eat out on a patio this summer, but in the end, it just didn’t happen.
Ian 20:02 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
I haven’t eaten out or been to a bar since March. I love bars & restaurants, and especially a summer terrasse. I get it, I really do – but it just feels like foolish self-indulgence in the face of a risk vs benefit assessment.
I ma fortunate in that I have a back yard and a patio on which I spent considerable time, effort, and money. My landlady is super grateful, but I figure if I’m spending all my time at home it’s worth my time and money to make it as nice as it can possibly be.
Blork 20:30 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
Somewhat unexpectedly, I found myself downtown today at a little after 5:00. Hungry, but not sure where to go (and the weather not good for a terrace) so we ended up at Time Out. It was practically deserted, and I think only five of the kiosks were open. Pretty low risk, as the tables have barriers to keep groups apart, and there are cleaners galore. I saw one woman disinfect a nearby table four times even though no one sat there the whole time.
Ian 20:41 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
That makes sense, they would have to do it based on the passage of time – unless they hired another person to actually sit and count customers – probably simply cleaning on a schedule is more cost effective.
Mitchell 07:04 on 2020-09-03 Permalink
I ate out with a friend back in mid August, on the terrace. Everyone kept their distance, the waiter wore a mask and didn’t bend over to get in our faces. Even the traffic noise wasn’t too loud. As JFP said, I’m still here to tell about it.
GC 08:50 on 2020-09-03 Permalink
I haven’t dined in a restaurant since March, but you only have to walk by a few to see that lots of people are doing it. And, yes, terraces are often very busy.