Classic inner-Sydney watering holes The Courthouse Hotel and The Bank Hotel say they’ll open for business on Monday, June 1, which is great news for punters looking to gingerly make their way back into the city’s pubs.
Taking to social media overnight, folks from both Newtown establishments revealed plans to swing the doors open from Monday, the first day pubs will be permitted to serve 50 patrons at a time since the start of NSW’s coronavirus venue lockdown measures.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CApTc03iTQP/
Those announcements herald a wave of re-openings across the state, as venues prepare to ramp up from the current restrictions, which allow a maximum of ten seated patrons to bend the elbow in a responsible and socially-distanced fashion.
(It is also big news for PEDESTRIAN.TV‘s Music & Culture Editor Courtney Fry, who reckons the Courty has the best beer garden in the business.)
While many venues across the state have made the most of the meagre allowances, other institutions, like the two mentioned above, have chosen to wait for more greater permissions.
Of course, Monday’s progress towards normalcy doesn’t mean you can expect to rock up, get pissed, and act like a total plum.
“There is no mingling, no standing around,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during last week’s announcement.
“There are strict guidelines in place, which will ensure that we can do this safely.”
I won’t be seeing you there, owing to the fact I live in Victoria, but please: go ahead awkwardly stare at the list of tap beer specials before settling on a bog-standard pale ale. It’s what I would do if I was there.
