On Monday, Toronto’s medical officer of health asked that the city’s restaurants close by Tuesday at midnight, with the option to do takeout or delivery only. Even before the city weighed in, many local restaurants had already gone that route — something that has already been implemented by cities in the United States.

Washington, Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois— as well as the cities of New York and Los Angeles — have already ordered eating and drinking establishments to close with the exception of doing takeout and delivery.

On Saturday, Junction seafood restaurant Honest Weight announced it will be closing for three weeks. “Every day matters. The spread is exponential so there is a difference between us closing today and next week. We’re doing the right thing by closing,” says owner Victoria Bazan over the phone.

Bazan says she’s in a fortunate position to be able to pay her employees for the three weeks the restaurant won’t be open, and says she is also figuring out how to continue to support them if the restaurant has to stay closed beyond that time. While other restaurants and businesses across the city (and beyond) have been assuring guests that they’ve been ramping up cleaning efforts, Bazan says closing the business is the only way to effectively help stop the spread.

“In the days before the closure, we implemented a rigorous sanitizing protocol, but it would be ridiculous to think that it would be enough and to try to have a foolproof system,” she says. “We don’t have x-ray vision, we can’t see the virus.”

Honest Weight joins a growing list of restaurants in the city that have opted to close, be it for a few weeks or indefinitely. So far, it includes Oyster Boy on Queen Street West, Paris Paris on Dundas Street West, Donna’s on Lansdowne Avenue, French restaurant Dreyfus on Harbord Street, Farmhouse Tavern in the Junction, Dailo on College Street, Pronto on Bay St. and Emma’s Country Kitchen on St. Clair Avenue West. Hospitality group Oliver and Bonacini, which owns restaurants across the country, has also closed all of its operations, which include Toronto restaurants Canoe, Auberge du Pommier, Luma, Jump and O&B Cafe Grill. West-end brew pub Woodhouse Brewing Co. has closed its pub section, but the bottle shop remains open.

Jen Agg, the restaurateur behind Rhum Corner, Cocktail Bar, Grey Gardens, Le Swan and Bar Vendetta, also closed her restaurants and said in an Instagram video posted Sunday that “If you don’t give people places to go, maybe they’ll just stay home.”

For now, opting to voluntarily close the restaurant is a tough decision for most Toronto restaurant owners, as many of them are already operating on slim profit margins and employees depend on wages and tips to survive. Some restaurants have been promoting takeout and delivery services on social media. Buffet restaurant Mandarin said it is suspending its buffet services and will only be offering delivery and takeout.

Jacob Wharton-Shukster of Parkdale’s Le Phenix decided to close the restaurant’s dining room on Sunday and scrambled to put together a delivery menu he hopes will be up and running on Tuesday.

“We want to keep people working,” he says, adding he’s also in the process of rebuilding his other restaurant, Chantecler, across the street after it was destroyed in a fire months ago. “Are restaurants going to get any aid if we close? Who knows? We’re trying to do our best with what we know. What I think is most reasonable is to try to move to takeout. It’ll keep the lights on, keep people at work.”

Cyrus Cooper, a professor and co-ordinator at Centennial College’s Hotel and Resort Restaurant management postgrad program, says that while the larger restaurant groups will have an easier time to deal with closures, it’s going to be “extremely hard” for small restaurants to survive the lost sales during the pandemic.

“This is when we look to leaders and governments,” he says. “The government should be looking at landlords and how they can give back to tenants, or can restaurants get an HST break or pay their taxes later.”

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Mayor Tory was scheduled to speak with members of the hospitality industry Monday afternoon as part of the Mayor’s Economic Support and Recovery Task Force. Part of the task force plan involves extending a grace period for paying taxes for 30 days as well as a contingency fund to support businesses.

Bazan agrees those are the keys to helping small businesses like hers be able to reopen.

“I can support my staff a lot longer if I get some sort of rent protection or not pay HST,” she says. “It’ll be interesting how landlords and the government will support this industry. I hope they show up.”