One of the few restaurants in town has closed its doors.
On Aug. 29, management of the Highway Restaurant and Shivers Lounge, located in the Mackenzie Hotel, announced they had officially shut their doors as of Aug. 27.
“What began as a dream in the summer of 2019, grew into an incredible opportunity for thousands of guests, both local and tourists, to dine in the town of Inuvik,” reads the announcement. “We are incredibly humbled that so many embraced our restaurant and that we were able to remain open as long as we have.
“Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting effect on our business beginning with mandatory closures and capacity restrictions. This past year persistent recruiting challenges in the area have been a significant barrier to expanding our service offerings and have prevented us from fully re-opening to our pre-pandemic hours.”
Instead, the company that ran the two restaurants says it will shift its focus to the Highway Express at Mike Zubko Airport, having recently taken over the space previously known as the Cloud 9 Cafeteria. Much of the menu will still be available for breakfast and lunch from Monday through Saturday.
Meanwhile, the town’s other dine-in option, Alestine’s, has closed for a month for its annual vacation, after a much busier tourism season in Inuvik, than expected.
”We would like to thank everyone for such amazing support during this crazy summer season,” restaurant management wrote on their Facebook page. “We will now be closed until October. We are off to see our family and taking a well deserved break. Thanks especially to the local support during our last couple of stressful years.”
The Roost Diner also has a dine-in section, but manager Moody Elkhatib previously told the Inuvik Drum they would remain closed as the Covid-19 pandemic was still a threat to the community and would wait until other restaurants decided it was safe to return to full service.