Downtown restaurants wave the white flag

As PlayWright owner Steve Brochu closes shop, downtown restaurants continue to ask for help amid high construction and low foot traffic. Despite being in the Citadel Theatre, part of the branded Arts District surrounding Churchill Square, Brochu said business there is untenable. He made the decision to close "after a lot of hard work, long nights, and fighting through some incredibly difficult operating conditions," he wrote on Instagram. He did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

PlayWright is not the first downtown restaurant to fold this year. Khazana closed earlier this month, after 28 years in business, citing interwoven challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and blocked access to the restaurant due to construction. A bit west on Jasper Avenue, Kommune Snack Bar also closed in June. "We tried hard to navigate the construction outside our doors, rising costs, and the challenges facing independent businesses," a staff member wrote on Instagram before the account was deleted. "In the end, we couldn't make the numbers work."

Some members of council have heeded the call to support the restaurant industry, including Mayor Andrew Knack. After voting with the majority of councillors in March to keep new patio fees in place, he introduced a motion in June to revise the fees, which have been voraciously criticized by some business owners. "I think we need to stop being so rigid as a city when we're looking at activation of our streets," he said, noting that he had misunderstood the number of fees that restaurants have to pay. The patio program had been funded through photo radar revenue, but now that the province prohibits that, administration will examine alternative funding sources for 2027.