By Shelby Brooks
Hospitality venues will welcome back patrons as Covid-19 restrictions ease Thursday 21 October at 11.59pm.
The Drake Tavern in Pakenham is hoping rain holds off on Friday to welcome 50 outdoor patrons.
20 patrons will be seated inside.
Manager Brendan Theobold said staff were ecstatic to be back to work later in the week.
“Once everyone is back into the swing of work and the culture everyone will be happy I’m sure,“ he said.
“The overall comment from staff is that it’ll be fantastic to be back to work.“
Due to capacity restrictions, Brendan will not open the kitchen for their full menu and instead just serve drinks and bar food.
“We can’t run a kitchen on that many people,“ he said.
“I know some larger venues aren’t opening at all because it isn’t viable.
“As restrictions ease further from 5 November we’re hoping to open the dining room and welcome more people.“
Many venues across metropolitan Melbourne are already booked out for services for the upcoming weekend, and Brendan said the Drake’s phone had been ringing a lot since the announcement on Sunday 17 October.
“We’re just excited to welcome people back to the hotel,“ Brendan said.
“Just for a hello and a beer it will feel like we’re getting back to normal.“
