MONTREAL -- One thing helped save many Montreal restaurants this year: terrasses, and the warm weather that made them possible.
Some even moved for that reason, like Tacos Victor, which moved to a new storefront that had a terrasse.
Now, however, the cold is arriving, and owner Victor Soto says he’ll keep trying, but it’s hard to see how he’ll get through a very, very tough winter.
Some diners are moving inside, but a lot aren’t comfortable with it. Many people haven’t been inside a restaurant since March.
"We have to find a way to adapt to more delivery,” said Alex Cohen, a co-owner at Arthurs Nosh Bar & Bucky.
“Pickups are going to be less, I'm assuming, because people are going to leave their houses a lot less,” he said. “There's no patio,” and without being able to predict if dine-in will still be allowed, “obviously everything is unknown.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates that a third of restaurants haven’t reopened since COVID-19, and that another third might close for good by the beginning of winter.
