Residents of Wellington County have a new tool available at their fingertips that lets them search for restaurants and food businesses offering ready-to-eat takeout food in the county.
The online interactive map shows takeout locations across all seven member municipalities.
Christina Mann, Taste Real coordinator for the County of Wellington, said the takeout food map was a collaboration with the county’s planning and economic development departments.
“We were keeping a business directory as part of our ongoing efforts to support local businesses, so when this opportunity came around, we were able to leverage the data that we have been collecting over years, and sort of adding a few more details into it to create this map,” Mann said.
Mann said the idea behind the takeout food map is to support Wellington County’s food businesses and restaurants that have been extremely hard hit by the pandemic, and obviously the public health restrictions they have to adhere to.
"Restaurants and some food businesses have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic." “Ordering takeout food is a great way to support these businesses and keep them in our communities," said George Bridge, Wellington County’s economic development committee chair.
According to Restaurants Canada, almost half of small and medium-sized independent restaurants are in danger of closing permanently if conditions do not improve.
Mann said there are many ways residents can use the interactive map.
“If you live in Rockwood then you [can] zoom into Rockwood and then it will all sort of populate and you can click on the different icons, so you can search by location essentially,” Mann said. “The other way you can search is by meal time.”
Mann said for example, if someone is looking for a dinner place for their family then they would just click on the clock icon on the header of the website and select dinner.
The other way residents can navigate the website is by the type of food they are looking for such as, vegetarian, international, dessert, pub food, and the list goes on.
Mann said to further promote the map and takeout food options, the county has launched a contest.
“We are encouraging users to you know, find their takeout food, and then take a picture of it, and then tag the business if possible, and also use the hashtag #takeoutwellington,” Mann said.
Mann said residents need to make sure their profile and photo permissions are set to public so they can see people’s photos and share them.
She added by doing this, people will be entered into the contest for a chance to win one of seven $50 gift cards to Wellington County restaurants.
The map and contest information can be found at www.wellington.ca/takeout.
Christina Mann, Taste Real coordinator for the County of Wellington: