Toronto Restaurant Owner Spent $40K Opening Her Patio Right Before Ontario Shut Them Down

Toronto restaurateur Nicki Laborie says she and her staff are reeling from the province's decision to shut patios back down, announced just one day after her restaurant's reopening. 

Laborie, who owns Bar Reyna and Reyna on King, told Narcity over the phone that her team was working full-time in the two weeks leading up to their opening on March 31 — a payroll that cost $12,000.

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"We opened and literally that night I went home and I started hearing the rumours that [Doug Ford] would be shutting down everything, and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'" 

"Everyone was shocked," said Laborie. "I had literally two people in tears, scared for their jobs." 

With all of the reopening costs combined, Laborie had originally estimated the total to be around $30,000, but Toronto Life discovered that her expenses ended up being closer to $40,000.