Pubs and restaurants opening this weekend

Although I'm sheilded and therefore advised strongly not to go out, were I given the opportunity the answer would be a definite no. I think far too much emphasis has been put on today from it being "UK Independance Day" to "Super Saturday". I would have preferred a gradual opening to places rather than the whole lot in one go.

Freeandeasy to highlight a name you need to put an asterisk then the name and another asterisk with no spaces.

Your LA is probably right ,theres been litttle thought put into this and as we've seen in the past 3 months some people dont underst.and "guidlines" it needs to be law ,with consequences if its broken .Both the FM of Scotland and Drakeford in Wales said the lockdown rules being slackened in England is being done ina shambolic manner and it looks like they are right .

Merlot the landlord (notorious in the area, but new to this pub) has built a makeshift outside bar right opposite my DD’s house . It is on council owned land . I have spelled it out to them . He has now erected around 20 bench seats/tables (you know the kind that seat about 6 people) on the grass , again right opposite my DD’s house . There will be no social distancing and I just know there will be a lot of trouble.
The LA are typically blaming “the Tory government” which is what the idiot in the licensing dept said to me today .

I won't be going anywhere near for a while to see what happens first. I think Saturday will be complete madness. I have however booked a table at a local restaurant for the end of July so I can wait and see and cancel if needed.

We bought the lease on a pub/restaurant and camp site in the nineties recession. We did really well in the end but there were tough times when we wondered if we'd be able to keep going.

I'm so glad we're not in that trade now. What a nightmare! The thought of having to close for any reason filled us with dread. I remember DH moaning about having to close for Princess Diana's funeral even though I pointed out to him that we wouldn't have had any customers!!

We thought it would be table service only and all customers had to be seated but when one of my neighbours decided to test what was arranged she was told no there will be no table service and you just come to the bar and order. This pub has also said they will not enforce tables only so we will have to wait and see what happens. By the way they have a large beer garden, large restaurant area, medium size bar area and now they are putting tables in part of the car park! Its queuing only to get in and no bookings, queue to be managed by "Greeters", so thats going to be fun!

Customers are allowed to stand at the bar only whilst they order and pay (contactless) for their drinks, apparently janeainsworth.

Will the pub customers be buying their drinks inside the pub then carrying them to the piece of land he's planning to use as a beer garden?

Merlot I thought the conditions required by the government for a pub to re-open were that customers had to pre-book, and that drinks would not be available at the bar - people have to sit at a table and be served by bar staff.

Yes, Hetty58 (I wish I knew how to highlight a username). I agree that it’s never safe, just a lowering of the risk, and I’m not prepared to take that risk.

My post before last about my partner playing snooker - he plays for a Conservative league and loves it. He and a few members self-run the small club which was about to close a few years ago. They’ve transformed the place as a Committee and hire the room above for functions. Why can’t he join the rest of his team on Saturday (7 people if everyone turns up) because indoor games are not allowed but social en masse in pubs from tomorrow is? My partner doesn’t drink so this is a social lifeline to him. What about golf clubs? My next door neighbour is President of our local golf club. If smaller clubs/pubs had opened earlier then the Government could have tested the water. I thinks it’s crazy to do this in one fell swoop - madness! For example, I can have my hair done from tomorrow but not my nails - why? If my manicurist was wearing PPE, like my hairdresser - why can’t she paint my nails? I must point out that I haven’t had my nails done since I retired two years ago, and’t don’t intend to, but that’s not the point. The lovely girl who did my nails needs to re-start her business or will be on the brink of claiming universal credits.

I think a lot more thought should have gone into the easing of the lock down not just to “blanket” easing all at once.

If the landowner has given permission the publican is not doing anything wrong unless he sets up a separate bar - which would require an outside licence.

We were astonished at how quickly the 2 restaurants and bar in our village obtained not only an outside license but also permission to close of the public pavement so that they can spill over for extra seating area. There seems to be a desperate drive to get pubs, bars and restaurants up and running at all costs, even if it means pedestrians will have to walk in the road to get past diners and drinkers.

There's no rush to do anything until we have waited and watched. It seems a shame to take risks after all these months of being so very careful (a lot of us stayed at home from February). Is it worth the worry?

You're right Riverwalk and TBH I do feel guilty but I just don't feel comfortable enough to go out to eat.

Our church is reopening for services at the end of the month; no singing, service books or sharing the peace but I wont be going back at the moment either.

I was just going to post about the 6am opening, fourormore; do you think people will be drinking alcohol at that time in the morning?
Answer: sadly, yes.

No we won’t be we are going for a long drive to cycle when we get there on road not track as some tracks are too narrow to social distance,with ouR own pack lunch.I don’t feel comfortable doing anything more than that.

Freeandeasy, it's never safe, just a lowering of risks. It's all about kickstarting the economy as we can't stay locked down forever.

I can stay at home a lot longer myself. Alcohol lowers the inhibitions, after all, so people will be forgetting all about social distancing once they leave the pub!

Our local radio this afternoon explained that the pubs can open from 6am because technically the 4th July starts at midnight and the delayed opening would prevent pub parties starting at midnight?
I've better things to do - like sleep !!!

I agree Jennifer Eccles, the country and the economy needs to get back on its feet and that the hospitality industry has suffered and some jobs will never recover. I also agree that we need to put the risk in perspective. My concern was that some people will abuse this “privilege” and that it’s all happening at once. That was my concern on the impact of the police and the NHS. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a ‘novelty’ and the novelty will soon wear off and we can get back to some kind of normality.

I personally won’t be venturing out to a pub or restaurant soon but that is my choice. If everyone behaved sensibility, there shouldn’t (hopefully) be a problem, but I fear that hundreds of people will descend on town centre pubs and things will get out of hand,

I agree that the Government has an incredibly difficult job in balancing all the risks (as any Government would) but I feel that it should have maybe be done gradually (possibly some weeks before now) not an en masse situation like tomorrow, Maybe allowing smaller, local pubs/Labour or Conservative clubs to open first and then town centre pubs later. Most people are sensible and will abide by the rules but yobs - whatever their age - will never change.

I also agree with Purplepixie to an extent as well. We can’t be certain that it IS safe, but people will make their own decision.

gillybob, Will the pub customers be buying their drinks inside the pub then carrying them to the piece of land he's planning to use as a beer garden?

Who owns the land and how far away is it from the premises?

If the landowner has given permission the publican is not doing anything wrong unless he sets up a separate bar - which would require an outside licence.

I shall be queuing for a haircut (more of a sheepshear actually) tomorrow, and will let the first mad rush to my local subside. The pub’s next door to the police station, so will either be meticulously compliant or rammed to the rafters with the boys in blue.

I am going to tread carefully ,and will post in GM on Sunday as to what i experience tomorrow ,
Mick

It seems we're all pretty much in agreement that we want the pubs and restaurants to survive and the economy to recover ASAP but there are many of us feeling some trepidation about venturing out.
Those who want clean power but don't want nuclear power stations in our town are called NIMBYs so can we come up with an acronym for economy supporters who won't venture out.
How about GROBING 'glad restaurants open but I'm not going'.
Any better ideas?

I love our local pub ( we only go for meals) but will be leaving it for a very long time now before we return.Plenty will though, as it’s popular, and younger couples will want to I imagine.
What I really miss are small cafes, and we won’t be using them for the foreseeable either, unless they are garden ones.

Riverwalk, our pubs are not opening because of the village's proximity to the edge of the Leicester Lockdown Zone.

Luckily they are not opening to avoid the risk of people from the City bringing in the virus as our village is a popular destination in the normal way. Good weather and a city in lockdown would mean we would be overrun.

And, yes, I do want my local businesses to survive that it why we use them such a lot including having takeaways from the very enterprising publicans in the village.

The pubs in my area that are opening are all pre booking and are already fully booked. It’s what happens at changeover time that will be interesting.