Pubs across the region are set to throw their doors open to patrons once again under a new set of revised restrictions that will help give publicans breathing room.
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The Commercial is just one of many pubs that weren't able to reopen during an earlier round of restriction easing that sought to limit pubs to 10 people at a time, but has now welcomed back patrons for the first time since the lockdown began.
General Manager Jimmy Anthon says the reopening, that began on Monday evening, was a success.
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"It's being going good, we've been doing renovations while things have been closed down, so we've stayed pretty busy giving everything a bit of a spruce up, we were able to get everything across the line just in time for the opening," Mr Anthon said.
Thanks to those renovation projects, the Commercial was able to provide work for staff that would have otherwise been furloughed, something Mr Anthon is grateful for.
"We probably didn't fair too bad, we kept a couple of staff employed through the renovation work and obviously we were very lucky with the Jobkeeper payments," Mr Anthon said.
"We stayed in touch with the few staff we had to stand down and now everyone's back on deck, having that good rapport with the staff we did our best to stick with them through the whole situation."
"We're all definitely happy to be back."
That enthusiasm seems to be shared by the patrons, who weren't stalled by the restrictions still in place that limit the number of people per booking and the overall total.
"There was plenty of smiling faces, everyone was sort of chomping at the bit, we had good numbers in here that night, and everyone seemed really responsive with the restrictions that were in force," Mr Athon said.
The eased restrictions around total numbers are 'a breath of fresh air' for Anthon and the staff, who were skeptical about about whether or not twenty people would be enough to cover costs.
For now, group bookings for pubs will be limited to 10 to a group and strict social distancing rules will still ensure that people maintain adequate space between each other, which the Commercial is happy to obide by.
"We're taking people's details as they come in as well, keeping it to 10 people makes that a bit easier to manage for us," Mr Anthon said.
"It seems like people are ready to get back out, everyone's pretty well across what's expected of them to make sure things run smoothly."
"I think people are ready to get back outside and make this work."
