The Alberta relaunch strategy; a breath of fresh air for us Calgarians. We have done our part as members of the community and now as we begin to take those two steps forward from one step back, we cheer with concern as details of the relaunch strategy begin to take effect as early as May 14th. The launch of ‘Stage 1’ of the strategy is to have multiple businesses begin to re-emerge from their COVID-19 hibernation with lifted restrictions on cafes, restaurants and bars. They can reopen for public seating at 50% capacity, but people will not be able to go to the bar to order drinks, they will need to be served at the table. 

Businesses that continue to operate through this crisis are seeing the dust begin to settle. One local Calgary company Paddy’s Barbecue and Brewery traditionally would see customers served their locally brewed beer at the bar and enjoying their rotisserie barbecue cuisine in house. Safe to say since the state of local emergency was declared on March 15th, every restaurant and bar in the city was left with a choice, close shop to weather the storm, or adapt to the situation early and move their offerings online.

Kerry & Jordan are the owners of Paddy’s Barbecue and Brewery, the concept was the brainchild of their son Paddy. Kerry from Ontario and Jordan spending his youth in Calgary, met in London Ontario, and moved back to Calgary in the 1980s. Their specialty with Paddy’s is a wide menu of smoked meats, sandwiches and their own in-house brewed beer. With the experience behind their brewmaster, Dan Lake, their beers won multiple awards in the 2020 Alberta Beer Awards. 

Let’s take it back to March 15th. Jordan and Kerry, immediately shut their doors to the public to focus solely on the well being of their team and their customers. Quick to react, by March 17th they had moved their menu online for pickup so they could continue to serve their customers. Seeing so much support from the community for local businesses, they welcome anyone who would like to visit their location to pick up their order and explore their range of bottled and canned beer. Thankful for support from the community, Jordan mentions:

“…Calgarians are rallying behind local merchants that are still open. They are visiting us and buying gift cards. They’re coming in with smiles on their faces. I will say that Calgarians are just wonderful…”

Most of us by now have made ourselves aware of the Alberta Relaunch Strategy. Currently, we remain with the strongest guidelines in place with some relief for recreation like golf courses and skateparks across Alberta. Focusing on stage 1, Paddy’s are not alone in balancing precaution with normality moving towards May 14th. Some of the larger concerns in the community are related to a possible second wave of COVID-19, how to offer the highest level of precaution for this industry to allow in-house seating and how will we as individuals feel safe returning to our favorite restaurants.

If we remind ourselves of the regulations that any restaurant has to adhere to generally operate and to handle the food we eat. They are uniquely poised and trained to adhere to health and safety regulations put forward by the Alberta Health Services. Paddy’s have been actively sanitizing all areas of their restaurant to reduce any risk of contamination and will continue to follow recommendations from regulatory bodies. In regards to reopening, they are taking a cautious approach. Some of the guidelines for Stage 1 consist of restaurants to operate with a 50% reduction for in house seating and to continue with a two-meter distance from individual customers. Paddy’s would traditionally have a 70 person capacity and will work to operate with this reduction with the addition of new outdoor seating. Moving forward, Jordan and Kerry are eager to listen to their customers for what they want in terms of precaution in the wake of reopening. 

This is a time where we are reminded of what are the more important things in life. It has also allowed us to miss a lot of smaller things. We are looking forward to the other end of this pandemic as a community hurting. Jordan is particularly looking forward to socializing again at some of his favorite bars and restaurants. 

He believes that the cancellations of events like sports games and festivals can have a silver lining. His optimism is based on the energy and positivity of the people in our community:

“…we are going to spend more time with family, we’re going to have more time to be creative, more time to make Calgary a vibrant city”

We wish Paddy’s Barbecue and Brewery the best of success with re-opening moving towards May 14th. If you would like to learn more about Jordan and Kerry or to support them by ordering from their takeaway menu, visit their social media below or website here.

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