‘Orange’ And ‘Yellow’ Phases Are Tough On Moncton Beverage Room
MONCTON – This time of year is usually busy for places like Cheers Beverage Room with the holidays and sports on TV packing the place. But moving in and out of various phases has made it unpredictable.
Eric Somers, the bar manager, says with recent sporting events, for instance, a rise in cases meant more people were reluctant to come out and watch a game.
“It’s the up and down of it,” he says. “Every time it Covid-19 cases spikes, everything shuts down it seems. That’s the hardest thing, you get people who may have been planning to come to a game, but then they see a spike in cases and they just stay home.”
Somers also says the holiday season attracted smaller crowds than in the past.
“Christmas was really hard because … a lot of businesses didn’t do Christmas parties and catering this year, so we didn’t get that business either. Sports obviously, isn’t like it was. You don’t really get people gathering anymore.”
Cheers is currently operating at around 50 percent capacity.
He also says they are usually a popular spot for live entertainment with local musicians.
“[We are] trying to keep those guys afloat as well. They are going through a rough time as well, so we are trying to book them as much as we can and get them something coming in.”
Somers says they really have a lot of their regular customers to thank.
“We have a great customer base here that really wants to support us. Those who haven’t felt comfortable coming into the restaurant, have been ordering take out.”
Tara Clow is the news director with 91.9 The Bend in Moncton, a Huddle content partner.