Restaurants also cash in as booze drought ends

The booze drought is over.

For more than two months, thirsty Nelson Mandela Bay residents have been forced to either make homemade beer or buy overpriced bootleg alcohol under levels 4 and 5 of the lockdown.

However, on Monday the wait came to an end as queues snaked outside bottle stores with alcohol flying off the shelves.

Sit-in restaurants and taverns also made good money from online orders from residents who opted not to brave the queues.

Bay restaurant and tavern owners pounced on the opportunity to deliver liquor with food orders.

La Cantina’s  Manny Heredta said deliveries would help keep the business afloat and sustain it going forward.

“We have been busy with orders. It’s been crazy since morning and people are placing orders non-stop,” he said.

He said they notified customers on their social media platforms and orders were placed through WhatsApp.

“It is very simple, one places an order and can either pay cash or EFT and then we deliver to your doorstep.”

He said it might not be the traditional way of doing business but it would help during the trying times of the pandemic.

Lionel Waite, owner of Barney’s Tavern in Summerstrand, said he had been busy since Sunday with back-to-back orders and started delivering on Monday morning.

“It’s been busy and this strategy is helping sustain the business; yes, we may not yet be busy enough to have the number of staff we had previously, but we will definitely get there,” he said.

He said the business was operating in a 5km radius but, depending on the order, deliveries could  be arranged outside the specified radius.

Dion Forlee, owner of Mellas Dim-Sum & Noodles Bar, said he was finished sourcing liquor and would notify clients on social media platforms on how to place an order.

He said he would operate from 9am to 5pm and deliveries  of up to 5km would be free and a delivery fee of R35 would apply for up to 15km radius, with a R50 charge if it was further.

“We managed to get the alcohol; now we look forward to delivering,” he said.

Township tavern owners said they had also plunged into the delivery business.

Concerned Township Licensed Liquor Traders leader Lunga Magxaka said the tavern owners in the Bay had discussed the matter and decided to also embark on the online ordering and delivering service.

“With prolonged lockdown and the eased restrictions, we in the township also decided to do the online buying, which so far has been a success.

“One can either pay with cash or EFT and then we deliver alcohol,” Magxaka said.

In the public interest, most of our coronavirus news isn’t behind our paywall, and is free to read. To support our mission of delivering award-winning, independent local news, subscribe from as little as R45 per month by clicking here.