Toronto's Cabana Pool Bar Reopened As A Patio & Got 4.1K Reservation Requests In 5 Hours

Toronto just can’t get enough of Cabana Pool Bar’s new patio. After the outdoor pool bar and lounge confirmed they’d be transforming into a full-time restaurant and patio, the local hotspot has been inundated with booking requests. In fact, they got 4,100 reservation requests in just five hours!

If you’ve got big plans to visit Cabana Pool Bar’s new 50,000-square-foot restaurant patio, you may have to reschedule.

Just days after finally reopening to the public, the pool bar’s owner has confirmed that they’re already “booked solid well into July.”

Speaking to Toronto Life, owner Charles Khabouth admitted that the response from locals to the new restaurant-patio set-up has been “unbelievable.”

“We opened our reservation system a couple of days ago and got 4,100 reservations in just five hours,” Khabouth explained.

"That’s more than double what we could accommodate," he added.

To safely reopen, the Cabana Pool Bar was forced to “totally reconfigure” their space, which was once a busy pool bar and lounge.

Now, the location has been transformed into a huge outdoor patio and restaurant, a change which cost $300,000.

"It’s really like opening a brand-new business," Khabouth said.

The Cabana Waterfront Patio reopened on June 25, after Doug Ford confirmed that Toronto could enter Phase 2 of Ontario’s reopening plan.

While the Toronto hotspot is happy to welcome locals back, they’re operating at a much-lower capacity than pre-COVID-19.

Before, the location had a 2,500-person capacity. Now, to ensure safe physical distancing, it’s limited to just over 400.

For long-time fans of the Cabana Pool Bar, things may look a little different for the time being.

Waitstaff will no longer wear white bikinis, instead switching to white shorts and T-shirts. 

The pool may be opened to the public again, if permitted by local health authorities, although Khabouth is unsure if people will still want to paddle prior to eating.

Fortunately though, the owner has no plans to prevent singing and dancing, per the Ontario Government’s ban.

The new patio restaurant is reservation-only, and bookings can be made through OpenTable.

Prepare to be patient, though. It could be a long wait to nab a reservation!