ACT's hospitality venues recover after first no-limits weekend

But after almost two years of constant restrictions pressing in on Canberra's cafes and pubs, it hasn't been the light-switch moment many had hoped it would be.

From ensuring enough staff were able to service those entering the venues, to the logistical management of getting chairs and tables back out from storage facilities, it will be a couple more weeks until Canberra's food scene is back to a sense of true normalcy.

Bean & Table owner Bostijan Savle said the short notice of the announcement left the understaffed business unable to scale up.

"Even though density limits are lifted, we haven't brought one single more chair or table into the café because we simply don't have enough staff," he said.

"It would have been nice to have been given a little more notice instead of announcing it on the day."

He added that the positive nature of the announcement wasn't an immediate fix for the problems the industry still faced.

"This is still a positive situation. We're getting out of this. But there are lots of compounding factors that are impacting us," he said.

Despite the logistical struggles, Eighty Twenty front-of-house manager Christine Lloyd said the crowd over the weekend showed a glimpse of a pre-COVID reality for their Braddon and Barton locations.

"We've been able to get back to pretty much what pre-COVID was, and that's really helped our business," she said.

"We're definitely starting to see things lighting up."

Friday's announcement was the reprieve so many Canberra businesses had been anxiously waiting for. Industry leaders were in tears at the news, and many establishments couldn't wait to return to the bustling restaurant vibe that had been so sorely missed.

But the ongoing staffing shortage throughout the hospitality industry has left owners having to innovate to try and keep up with the demand of normalcy on their business.

Lonsdale Street Roasters manager Fang yit Lim said he had to shorten staff shifts in order to maintain his workforce throughout the week.

"It's hit us really hard. Especially if I'm sick, or one of my staff is sick - there is just no one," he said.

"I can't even find a barista."

Ms Lloyd also expressed frustrations in the lack of staff, and said having staff who were exposed to COVID left unable to work was massively impacting their business.

"A lot of us are becoming exposed, and we're out of staff a lot of the time," she said.

"It's a massive issue."

The next thing on the list for hospitality owners is the removal of the mask mandate. Though the NSW government will lift the mandate on February 25 for its residents, the ACT government shows no sign of relaxing the rule.

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Mr Savle says he understands why it is still in place, but cannot ignore the impact it has had on his business.

"You have to remember that even [for the period] when everyone else didn't have to wear masks, people in hospitality did," he said.

"When we see the back end of that, that will be amazing."

Ultimately, Mr Savle remains grateful for making it through the pandemic, and credits his staff for helping push through the worst of the restrictions.

"I have to thank my staff. It's been so hard on us, but they've been so great all the way through," he said.

"I'm glad we survived. I've got lots of friends whose businesses haven't, so I feel really grateful."

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