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This article was published 06/05/2020 (1127 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s hard to imagine Osborne Village without the mouth-watering chimichangas, enchiladas, burritos and cold Mexican beer that are served at one of Winnipeg’s most iconic restaurants.

But like all restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, Carlos & Murphy’s and its popular outdoor patios have sat empty for the better part of six weeks.

At noon on this day, co-owner Nick Diacos sits inside, sporting a white hoodie bearing the name of his eatery. He has no idea how much longer he’ll have to wait to allow people back into the building. But he hopes it’s soon.

In mid-March, he and his staff cleaned out the kitchen, emptied the coolers and delivered about $10,000 worth of food to several soup kitchens in the city after public-health officials ordered all restaurants closed.

“Everybody was eating Mexican for a week,” says Diacos who, like many business owners, had no choice but to lay off all 30 members of his staff.

There’s a glimmer of hope, though, for places such as Carlos & Murphy’s, which Diacos and his sister Jennie Diacos have owned and operated for 35 years.

Last week, they began offering customers pickup service from a limited menu. After getting the green light from the province, the restaurant opened its outdoor patios with a full menu on Tuesday.

It was the first time in almost two months that Diacos says he felt there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

“It felt great,” he says. “You felt like there’s hope.”

In a few hours, a half-dozen servers, cooks and others will be in to start the second day of limited operations. Diacos was able to rehire about half his staff. They’ll have to sanitize chairs and tables and make sure washrooms have adequate supplies of hand sanitizers before the 3:30 p.m. scheduled opening.

It’s the furthest thing from business as usual, as patios can’t operate beyond 50 per cent capacity and customers have to be reminded about social-distancing requirements.

“Can I make a living off it?” he says. “No, but I can save my business.”

“I’m grateful to the staff and I’m grateful to the customers.”

What keeps him going is the outpouring of public support the restaurant has had over the past few weeks and the dedication of his staff, many of whom were eager to return to work.

“I’m grateful to the staff and I’m grateful to the customers,” he says.

— Tom Brodbeck