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Agostino said Turbo Espresso Bar and other Windsor businesses want to keep public health a priority. But it was a struggle to gain clarity on the ever-changing rules.
“I was waiting to get some direction from the health unit,” he said. “We will do whatever is safer for everyone. I don’t see anyone in the industry making unreliable decisions or doing things based on misinformation.
“I think everyone is doing whatever they are told to do.”
Augustine estimates that the midnight closing time has reduced his income by at least 50%. “You lose two hours of work in the early evening. What we have tried to do is educate our customers: “You have to go out first, because you have to go home first”. But you’re asking people to go against their nature. “
A reinvention of the Imperial nightclub at 285 Ouellette Ave., Turbo Espresso Bar launched in mid-September as a unique café and entertainment venue in the center of downtown.
Augustine said he was surprised by the province’s September 25 order for early closure. The first night the rule went into effect, an Ontario Alcohol and Gambling Commission compliance officer visited downtown Windsor facilities to ensure it was being followed.
Agostino said to obey and asked all of his patrons to leave Turbo at midnight, just for him to look across the street and see the Pizza Pizza, at 294 Ouellette Ave., still full of customers.
When Agostino asked the commission representative why Pizza Pizza was allowed to stay open, he was told that it was because Pizza Pizza is considered a takeaway business.
“Honestly, if I wanted to call Turbo a takeaway company, I would have been allowed to stay open even later,” Agostino said with a puzzled shrug on Tuesday.
“The truth is that nobody knows. What is the difference between sitting in a bar with 50 people at 11pm and sitting in a bar with 50 people at 1am? There is no difference.”
“I think we are just trying to take all possible measures to reduce the spread. And so we should … I just think things have to be perfectly clear, so there’s no confusion. “
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