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Despite public health recommendations to avoid large crowds, the Silver Heights Restaurant lounge was packed last Friday and Saturday nights.

But on Monday, owner Tony Siwicki decided to close, even though he knew he’d be losing a lucrative take for the traditional St. Patrick’s Day celebration he would have had on Tuesday night.

"It was a tough decision for my family and staff but after reading the news and listening to the scare, we decided to close," Siwicki said. "We knew that if we stayed open, we would be putting everyone at risk. We figured we should do our part and forget about making a dollar and try to help stop the spread" of the COVID-19 virus.

The St. James establishment, which has been in the Siwicki family for three generations, is scrambling to get on food-delivery platforms — which it had not been on before the coronavirus crisis hit. It is letting customers know it will be open for pickup and delivery business.

JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tony Siwicki, the owner of Silver Heights Restaurant, in his empty dining room Wednesday. He says he decided to close because it was the right thing to do. Then he scrambled to have Silver Heights listed on food-delivery sites.

Restaurants have not been mandated to close, but the Manitoba Restaurant & Foodservices Association is adopting a self-close policy and is encouraging the public to use third-party delivery services such as SkipTheDishes, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Deliver-Eats and Dash Delivers instead of dining out.

"Our owners are closing because it is what they feel they need to do to protect their staff and customers," said Shaun Jeffrey, executive director of the association.

"For a lot of them, it is just not feasible to remain open because they have seen such a significant drop in business."

About 60 per cent of the restaurants affiliated with the independent board are closed, along with national chains such as The Keg and Earls.

Siwicki said he’s lost 190 reservations and catering business for 320 people just for the coming week alone.

“It was a tough decision for my family and staff but after reading the news and listening to the scare, we decided to close. We knew that if we stayed open, we would be putting everyone at risk. We figured we should do our part and forget about making a dollar and try to help stop the spread.” — Tony Siwicki, owner of the Silver Heights Restaurant

Paulina Jojnowicz, who bought the Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant about a year ago after working as a waitress there for 15 years, is not sure what to do.

"We had one customer at lunch today," Jojnowicz said on Wednesday. "We normally do a brisk business at lunch."

The restaurant business runs on notoriously low profit margins. Jeffrey said it is not unreasonable to imagine that 20 per cent of restaurants will not survive the community lockdown.

Jojnowicz is worried about her restaurant’s older clientele and is going to try to stay open for four hours during the evening.

Tuxedo Village is on SkipTheDishes but she worries a lot of her older customers might not be comfortable using a mobile app.

JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Siwicki says bills have to be paid, so pickup and delivery options are available.

Meanwhile the delivery companies are becoming like a lifeline for many restaurants, and possibly the only chance of survival for some of them.

Jeffrey said the food delivery companies are going out of their way to be supportive. DoorDash is waiving its commission for 30 days for independent restaurants that sign up until the end of April.

SkipTheDishes said it’s taking additional precautions across its network. Customers have the option of requesting contactless delivery. It is also urging restaurant partners to seal all takeout bags, limiting exposure and the potential for unnecessary contact. It’s suspending the cash payment option for all orders.

Chris Thomas, the founder and owner of the Brandon-based rural service company called Dash Delivers, said he’s encouraging his network of 220 drivers across the country to buy sanitizer and wipes, for which they will be reimbursed.

“We have to pay our bills. We all have to pay our taxes, hydro, mortgages, all this stuff coming from last month that is due, source deductions. It is a long list.” — Tony Siwicki

Thomas said he’s having a hard time answering all the emails and calls he’s getting from restaurants that want to get on the system.

Business is booming for Dash Delivers, which operates from Ontario to Vancouver Island. In Manitoba, it is in Brandon, Winkler, Morden, Steinbach, Selkirk and Portage la Prairie.

Thomas is going to Dauphin later this week to set up operations there. (It is also only the second company licensed to deliver alcohol in Winnipeg, along with SkipTheDishes.)

"Business is booming, but it’s obviously not something we were hoping to cash in on," he said. "It’s unexpected for everyone."

He said he’s signed up more restaurants by phone than his best day ever going around to a new town.

"It’s forced our hand to ramp up a little faster than we expected to do," he said.

"There are a lot of restaurants that are shutting down their dine-in service."

At best, the delivery service will only be a stop-gap measure for restaurants. Besides the commission they have to pay for the service, it is unlikely any of them will do enough business to replace in-house sales.

"We don’t know what’s going to happen," said Siwicki, who is also chair of the restaurant association.

"We have to pay our bills. We all have to pay our taxes, hydro, mortgages, all this stuff coming from last month that is due, source deductions. It is a long list."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca