A Paisley restaurant isn't letting COVID-19 prevent it from opening for the first time ever.
While so many businesses have closed during the pandemic, Bonfire On Queen Social House opened for the first time Thursday primarily selling takeout pizza.
“We were about, probably two weeks away from opening when everything shut down,” says co-owner Jen Christie noting the opening was, “A little bit out of necessity because we still have bills to pay.”
“It went really well,” Christie notes, saying over the course of their opening weekend she and partner Chris Shaw sold 230 pizzas.
Christie and Shaw had underestimated the amount of support they'd get from the community. She says before they opened, they made what they thought was enough dough for their opening day Thursday and part of the following day, “By 1:30 p.m. on Thursday we had all of that dough spoken for in orders.”
“Friday we had a really big day too. We knew people would be excited and we would be busy but we were maybe not expecting to be so popular. We were quite overwhelmed with the support from the community and the communities around Paisley.”
Jen Christie is a Tara native and her partner Chris Shaw is a Chef from Nottingham in the UK who has been in the business for over 20 years. They moved to Paisley last fall, “It has such a great community vibe, with the river, it's got some lovely trails and we really hope that by us being here we can help draw more people from the area to come to Paisley and visit.”
Christie says they named the restaurant Bonfire Pizza on Queen because the two of them share the same birthday — November 5th, known in the UK as Guy Fawkes night, or 'Bonfire Night.'
She says the name also reflects a favourite Grey Bruce pastime of sitting by a bonfire.
Christie is excited to one day be able to open the doors to the dining room, noting people in Paisley, “Were excited for a place that they could get together with their friends and have a good dinner but also a place that they could hang out and socialize.” She says when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, they'll have a selection of beers on tap and a patio for the warmer weather.
As for the menu, dough and sauce is made from scratch. Some of their pizzas include the Margherita, Mushroom & Pesto, or there's one called “Kick it up a little” which has pepper and onion jam, mozzarella homemade chorizo sausage, red peppers, jalapeno and red onion.
She notes, “We're still a restaurant doing takeout versus a typical pizza shop,” explaining they have a distinct menu with pizzas that are one size. Other menu items include home made meatballs, salad, sides and dessert.
You can find Bonfire On Queen Social House across from the arena in Paisley, next to the Big Dipper Bakery.
Right now, due to the pandemic and because there are only the two of them, they are doing pick-up only.
To order, you can call 519-353-3473. The menu is posted on the website at bonfireonqueen.com You can also follow them on Instagram or on Facebook
This week they'll be open from Wednesday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
