Wagga diners try to flout 10-person rule

Robert Balivia, who owns Thaigga and Tammy's Thai, has seen diners try to make several separate bookings and then sit together in an attempt to flout the rules.

Mr Balivia said it was a headache for his business, which was already struggling to keep up with all the government's coronavirus regulations.

"When they turn up they ask to sit together and that makes it hard for us, because if you turn them away you lose 20 seats, and when you're seating 60 that's a big hit," Mr Balivia said.

"When we were at full capacity we could fit 110 people in here, but now we can only fit 66 in here."

Mr Balivia said there was widespread confusion among diners, especially given how often the government's regulations changed, and how short the notice was.

He said the situation only became more confusing when the cap changed from 10, to 20, to 50, to 1-per-four-square-metres, back to 20, and then back to 10 again.

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Wagga RSL general manager Andrew Bell said he had also seen patrons try to flout the rules, making multiple separate bookings and then pushing the tables together to get around the restrictions.

"We just started our bistro up again last week and we do get a lot of bookings - it's a matter of being aware of it and the best we can," Mr Bell said.

"It's a matter of policing it. It's difficult, but we are aware of it and we try to police it the best we can."

Mr Balivia said enforcing all of these changes had been a costly blow to restaurateurs everywhere, and he urged Wagga diners to support their local restaurants.

"We encourage them to spend more if they can - get that extra drink, get that extra entree, because that's what we need to keep going," Mr Balivia said.

"If a table of four gets two mains to share, that doesn't help us very much. If each of them order a main and an entree each, we would be much, much more appreciative of that."