A Toronto restaurant specializing in all bacon everything recently closed down for good.
Kensington's Bacon Nation is the latest business to shut down in the normally vibrant neighbourhood that's been hit hard by ongoing waves of the pandemic. They were known for breakfast, but also for putting bacon on everything from burgers to poutine, as well as wrapping chicken wings and grilled cheese sandwiches in it.
"Battling wave after wave of lockdowns did hurt. We were lucky the first time around that our landlord opted in for the rent subsidy. Not many landlords did," Bacon Nation co-owner Andrew Motta told blogTO.
"Came back in June, revamped the menu for more takeout and quick service. Even then though, you could tell the Kensington Market wasn't the same, the people and the unique energy of the neighborhood was different. Especially the loss of tourism in the area hurt."
Other businesses like Moo Frites, Krudar Muay Thai, Round, The Boat and Maracas are just some that have had to close down in the devastated area.
"Never really got our footing back and when they announced the second set of restrictions in October/November you could kind of see the writing on the wall. Without the strong holiday season it was going to be tough to make it," says Motta.
"So we started asking ourselves is it going to be worth getting through the January, February months taking on debt. If they do get back to normal April or May we'd be looking at two to three years of trying to pay this debt off. So we decided to cut our losses and refocus our operations to the events when they come back hopefully this summer."
That means the business is not entirely gone forever: with scaling back they'll be refocusing their efforts on their food truck, special events and The Ex, which according to a post announcing the closure "are the places where we connected most with our guests."
Kensington carnivores might be happy to hear more meat is on the way with Bacon Nation being replaced by a new BBQ joint, as according to Motta, "Good friends of ours from Hogtown Smoke in the Beaches will be taking over for their second location at 249 Augusta."
The last day Bacon Nation was open was Jan. 10.
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