Raising a glass again at popular Inverness city centre bar which reopens following successful takeaway service
DURING the coronavirus lockdown, one Inverness bar launched a beer takeaway service which proved very popular with thirsty locals.
The Black Isle Bar in Church Street, which sells a range of beers produced at the Black Isle Brewery, was able to reopen its doors to customers on July 15 as the restrictions were further eased.
Manager Andy Simpson said the takeaway service had proved “very successful” and added: “We were just doing it for five hours on Saturdays but we were kept quite busy throughout. It meant not much got discarded.”
He said customers were very pleased to be able to get hold of some craft beer and they also reopened the upstairs beer garden area for a few days before they were able to reopen the inside area last week.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “The worry was we would reopen with nobody coming through the door. Last Wednesday was quiet, but since then there have been plenty of people through the door.
“We were very busy over the weekend.”
Mr Simpson said they were now operating differently – people cannot just wander in and sit down or stand at the bar because they are now led to their seats and there is table service.
He said capacity was also controlled but they can have 60 people downstairs and the same in the upstairs area. He added: “We only had to take out two tables.”
Other measures which have been put in place include: taking customers’ contact details, cleaning regimes, limited numbers in the toilets and hand sanitisers. Upstairs bar staff also wear visors and masks.
He said: “We can fit enough people in to be taking enough money. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the sales.
“The customers that we’ve had in have been perfectly happy with what is going on and we’ve had compliments about how we are conducting things.
“Our customers are very glad to get back in to get their beers and pizzas they had been missing in lockdown.”
