'It's great for the city': Toronto businesses hopeful as stadiums fill up for first time since pandemic

Downtown Toronto businesses were buzzing with anticipation Saturday as the city's three main sports franchises are welcoming thousands of fans to games for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After nearly two years of pain that included forced closures and layoffs, restaurants and bars are bracing for full houses after the Toronto Blue Jays' baseball season got underway and as the Maple Leafs and Raptors prepared for playoff runs.

"I am so happy, it actually kind of makes me emotional," said Natalia de Carvalho, manager of the Fox and Fiddle bar a short walk from the Rogers Centre.

"Things are getting back to normal. The mood of the city is so much better. Everyone is happy. People are here. Tourism's back. It's great for the city."

She said the bar was so full for Friday's Jays home opener that it had a security guard to control the crowd lined up outside.

The pandemic has been a trying time for hospitality businesses, especially those located near sports venues that were closed and then required to limit the size of crowds.

COVID-19 restrictions forced the baseball team to play all of 2020 and most of 2021 in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo, N.Y. While the team did return to Toronto late last summer, Ontario still had capacity limits in place for most venues, limiting the cavernous Rogers Centre to just 15,000 fans.

Fox and Fiddle tried everything it could to stay afloat, but takeout options that helped restaurants didn't really work for the bar. Business plunged by more than half.

It faced great uncertainty as it was ordered to shut with little notice. All the beer and purchases went to waste when the plug was pulled on opening.

"It's been brutal," de Carvalho said. "We'd spend all this money to