The last few months have seen the Days Inn Estevan continue to adapt its services to meet the needs of the community.
The Days Inn is home to Black Beard’s Restaurant and the Beef Bar, as well as the Ice Factory off-sale liquor store.
Black Beard’s introduced BB’s to Go in May, a service that allows customers to pick up their favourite meals in a convenient fashion.
Since COVID-19 prevented Blackbeard’s and The Beef Bar from being open, Blackbeard’s started offering the takeout choice.
The two restaurants are now open again, meeting the needs of customers and serving the familiar products.
But the adaptations have continued.
Burgers for a Cause was introduced earlier in the spring. It’s a weekly special on Tuesdays in which $5 from the sale of every bacon cheeseburger and fries meal will be donated to a local charity.
“The Burgers for a Cause has just blown my mind,” said Days Inn Estevan general manager Jeff Pierson. “The local support we’ve gotten for it, since we started it, has just been amazing.”
The most recent beneficiary was the Bienfait Swimming Pool. Their most successful one to date was back in June to support the Estevan Comprehensive School Class of 2020 Legacy Project, which will see a tribute to this grad class built in Torgeson Park.
Recent editions of the fundraiser for the Estevan Day Care Co-operative and the Estevan Family Centre were also great, he said.
“Just when you think it might peter out or the support might wane, people keep stepping up, and it’s just such a great and fun thing to be part of. Our staff loves doing it, and we just love supporting these community organizations that need the help during COVID because they can’t raise any money.”
He doesn’t have an estimate for how much money they have raised for these causes, but he believes it’s been thousands and thousands of dollars.
“They’ve been so grateful to us. The day care brought us thank you cards from each of their different age groups, which was very heartwarming. When we do the picture presentation, the thanks we get is just so genuine.”
Their other new addition has been a service similar to a grocery store, in which people purchase the food, take it home and bake it or barbecue it themselves. These packages can be picked up at Black Beard’s. There are a variety of meals for people to choose from that come with a side dish.
“That was a partnership idea we had with Sysco Food Service, our food supplier. I think we knew not everyone was going to be comfortable going out to the grocery store and getting groceries. Between the prepared meals and the groceries you can get from our grocery essential list, I think it just gives people another option.”
Burgers and steaks have been the most popular options, which Pierson expected. Cases of chicken sold really well, too.
“Phone in your order, and then pick it up later in the afternoon. I don’t think it could be any more convenient,” he said.
And Pierson has also been part of the Jeff and Pete Road Show with Peter Sereggela from the Tower Café. They’ve been to various businesses, essential services and community organizations in the southeast, discussing what those organizations do for people in this region, and encouraging people to support local organizations.
Pierson said it’s been good to be open again. There have been times in which people have been waiting outside or in the castle area of Black Beard’s, waiting for a table, because only 50 per cent of the tables can be occupied. Most tables are used three or four times a day.
And The Beef has also been busy since it reopened a few weeks ago.
