BFF is choosing people before profit, so if you are craving an excellent burger, you’ll have to go somewhere else.
You’ll find the explanations from CEO Jamil Bhuya below.
We’re closing all locations tentatively until April
Hey BFFs,
Today I have decided to make a very difficult decision in light of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation that is both unpredictable and unprecedented. While I take pride in being there for our hungry BFFs, I have to ensure the safety of those who are the lifeblood of BFF: our staff.
Even though the government has not mandated closing down take-out or delivery services, I feel it is not right to continue to put our staff at risk.
There is also the duty we have to the public and community by ensuring we collectively decrease the transmission of this virus.
Therefore, I have decided to close all of our remaining locations indefinitely until we control the spread of this virus. We will always choose people over profits.
New York Fries thought people were worried about their Fry Society Points and Rewards, so they wanted you to know that they were safe despite their decision to close all NYF locations (115 in Canada, 17 in Saudi Arabia, 10 in the United Arab Emirates, 6 in Oman, 2 in China, 1 in India, 1 in Macau, 1 in Bahrain, 1 in Qatar and 1 in Panama… but 0 in New York).
Since 1964 when our first restaurant opened in Edmonton to today with nearly 400 locally owned locations from coast to coast to coast, Boston Pizza is and always has been a Canadian company serving food all Canadians love.
The last few days and weeks have brought a lot of change. Since the outset of the COVID-19 situation, Boston Pizza has aligned its operating policies and procedures to carefully follow and reflect the most current direction and mandates of governments and public health authorities across Canada.
With the Prime Minister now calling for Canadians to “Stay home and order Take Out” Boston Pizza dining rooms & sports bars will all be closed to dine-in guests as of March 18th until further notice, while most of our kitchens will remain open in support of Take Out and Delivery across the country – where possible.
As Canada’s largest casual restaurant chain we have a part to play in helping get through this global health crisis by acting responsibly. By closing to dine-in guests we are doing our part to help reduce the occurrence of larger group gatherings, in line with Public Health Authority guidance. By continuing to offer Take Out and Delivery we are doing our part, as urged by government, to maintain at-home meal options for Canadians during these restricted times. And by leveraging our involvement with industry and governmental groups we are doing our part to help them understand the support needed right now for the vast number of small business owners and workers across Canada, like Boston Pizza’s many Franchisees and their approximately 25,000 restaurant staff.
To help protect the health, safety and peace of mind of our kitchen staff, delivery drivers and dine-at-home guests we have implemented a number of new measures including:
Increased cleaning & sanitizing procedures in our kitchens
Increased cleaning & sanitizing protocols for our delivery drivers and their order hand-off & payment processing procedures at the Guest’s door
Introduction of Curb-Side pick-up at our restaurants for all Take Out orders, so guests don’t have to leave their vehicle
Offering 15% Off orders that are picked-up to encourage Take Out over Delivery because it’s simply a smarter choice for everyone involved right now
These are unusual times indeed, which require each of us to adapt our conduct every day. Boston Pizza is adapting our operations to minimize risk where we can while continuing to provide Canadians with dine at home options more aligned to the current needs of our guests and communities. When life returns more to normal we look forward to welcoming guests back again to our dining rooms and sports bars. Until then, our pizza ovens are on in many locations and we’re ready to keep serving Canadians food they love – at home.
