Since 2019 and the start of COVID, we have not allowed people to bring their own food for consumption on our property.  The decision to not allow customers to bring in their own food was initially mandated by the Governor during COVID at a time when it was mandatory that restaurant had to have customers order food prior to serving any alcoholic beverage.

The change actually helped us survive COVID because attendance was down by about 60% and the capturing of food revenue allowed us to survive.  When the mandate was lifted, we realized that we were never going to be able to responsibly serve as many people as we used to serve. It was also a fact that prior to COVID there were a lot of customers that were using our grounds for family picnics and outings without ordering anything from our winery but leaving a lot of rubbish behind.  At that time we made the business decision to continue with our food program and operate as an outdoor restaurant so that we could capture the revenue needed to survive. 

While some customers do not like the change, many of our customers also said they enjoyed this new more relaxed experience.   COVID is still with us, and many people appreciate the open air and distances between the table which we continue to manage. With COVID, staffing issues, interest rates and now inflation, survival is challenging, and changes are inevitable at all establishments.  

We hope that everyone will appreciate that our food operations now account for over 30% of our revenue and we would not be open today without this additional source of income.