A rainy Halloween evening would normally mean a quiet night for the staff at Cafe Diplomatico on College Street, but the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run means the Little Italy restaurant is expecting a bumper night.
Across the city’s downtown, restaurants and bars are preparing to break records as fans stream in to see if the Jays can defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers to claim their first World Series title since the 1990s.
At Cafe Diplomatico, reservations for spots near the restaurant’s giant screen are long gone, although they’re keeping 30 per cent of their seats open for walk-ups and have ordered in extra stock.
“We’ve been pretty busy during the play-offs,” Rocco Mastrangelo Jr., co-owner of Cafe Diplomatico, told Global News. “We’re excited. We’re gearing up, we’re stocking up, we brought in extra inventory — definitely more beer — so it looks like it’s already a good turnout.”
Down the road near the Rogers Centre, at Steam Whistle Brewing, the Toronto company is expecting to set a record on Friday evening, with tables being snapped up from midday onwards.
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“There’s going to be two flows of people,” Catherine Oppedisano, of Steam Whistle, said. “There’s going to be everybody who’s looking to get a slightly less expensive beer before they head into the game and then, at the same time, people who are looking to hold their spot for the watch party.”
Roundhouse Park, the area beside Steam Whistle, is one of the areas of Toronto where it is legal to drink outside, meaning those who can’t find a seat at Steam Whistle could still hang out with a pint nearby to watch their big screen.
Oppedisano said Steam Whistle saw more than 2,500 transactions recorded for Game 1 and Game 2 of the World Series, which is “by far” a record for the company. She said she expects that to be beaten on Friday.
Data from payment platform Moneris suggests the pattern was repeated for restaurants and bars around the downtown.
“Restaurant transaction volume jumped 27 per cent near Rogers Centre and 10 per cent citywide in game one, clearly showing how the championship stage inspires fans to savour the experience and spend a little more while doing it,” the company’s vice-president of data services told Global News.
Fans were also spending more money per transaction, with the average transaction size up 13 per cent near Rogers Centre and five per cent citywide.
The spike was not as big after Game 2, with L.A. levelling the series after beating the Jays 5-1, but the number of transactions was still up 20 per cent near Rogers Centre and two per cent citywide.
The average transaction size was up 12 per cent near Rogers Centre after Game 2 and four per cent citywide.
Hotels, too, have seen a boost. Destination Toronto said the two World Series games played so far in Toronto saw an 18 per cent increase in hotel demand year-over-year, a boost of more than 7,000 room nights.
Despite the business boom for Cafe Diplomatico, Mastrangelo Jr. said he can’t stomach Game 7 and wants to see the Blue Jays wrap the series up on Friday night.
“I think it’s well needed for Toronto and Canada to sort of give it to the United States, so I would prefer them wrapping it up,” he said. “Monetarily, yes, it would be nice to get an extra night, but I truly do want them to wrap it. I don’t want them to be going to Game 7.”
— with files from Uday Rana
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