Some restaurants along the island’s south coast are already in full preparation mode ahead of Old Year’s Night, with several establishments revealing they were booked solid long before December arrived.
At Champers Restaurant in Worthing, manager and owner Chiryl Newman says demand for Old Year’s Night has been particularly intense this year, even by their usual standards.
“We’re having the usual good season, I would say it’s probably a little better. Even though we’re always booked, it’s really hectic this year, probably better than last year even though we’re always fully booked.
“This year, we seem to be booked up a lot earlier than usual. People made reservations very early, so we got booked up really early this year,” Newman told Barbados TODAY.
Newman said much of that early demand came from visitors who secured their tables months in advance, some as early as mid-year.
“That is the norm, we tend to get more tourists than locals. They make their bookings well ahead of time, you know, they’re not booking Old Year’s Night. They’ve made Old Year’s Night reservations since August, since July, you know…” she said.
Further along the coast, Buzo Osteria Italiana is also nearly fully booked for Old Year’s Night. General Manager Danny Mansour said the entire festive season has been a strong one for the popular Hastings restaurant.
“Christmas holidays have been consistent for us. That’s picked up in the last two weeks leading up to Christmas, with our local market celebrating their Christmas parties and corporate functions and things like that,” Mansour said.
He added that business remained steady even in the period between Christmas and the New Year.
“I believe people are looking to enjoy the time off from work and cooking, and we are able to fill that void somewhat with our local clientele. We are seeing a little bit of tourists still in the area, but not to the extent of saying there’s a significant increase over any other year,” he explained.
“The locals have been steadily supporting us over the tenure, so we’re very grateful for them, and that has remained constant and strong.”
Mansour noted that unlike previous years, this festive season has not seen its usual peaks and troughs.
“I will have to say the difference between years before and this year is more consistent, whereas we had busier periods in previous years and then lulls, this has been more of a consistent period throughout the Christmas season,” he pointed out.
Outlining plans for New Year’s Eve, Mansour said the restaurant would stick to what their clientele prefers.
“We have found that our clientele prefers our type of à la carte menu, and they come to enjoy the meal, the atmosphere, the ambience, more so than any special menus, so we’re focusing on just an à la carte menu, lunch and dinner. Our close off time will be at 9 p.m so that people can still go out and do their other activities afterwards,” he said.
Nearby in Worthing, Bubbas, which caters largely to locals, is taking a different approach.
Owner Adrian Jones said while business has been steady, there will be no dedicated Old Year’s Night dinner, as staff will be given the evening off to celebrate.
“We close pretty much early New Year’s Eve to give our staff time to go and have some fun because they work hard all year.
“We open basically from 7 o’clock on New Year’s Day, with our regular menu,” Jones said.
He said the restaurant’s continued focus on locals has paid off.
“I think we’ve had a really good year. We focus on the local clientele and the locals have really been supporting us well over the years.”
Looking ahead, Jones revealed Bubbas is preparing for a major milestone.
“We’re going into our 30th anniversary, which will be in April 2026, and for those 30 years it’s been really good, it’s been really good, no complaints on our end,” he said.
(LG)
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