To the chagrin of some of its neighbours, the Cowboy Ranch Restaurant on Queensway and La Salle Ave will be cooking up steaks a little later on weekends.
The restaurant is currently divided into an 80-seat pub and a 170-seat restaurant. The restaurant currently closes at midnight on weekends, while the pub stays open until 1 a.m. Owner Brock Gable made a presentation to council requesting the popular restaurant side be permitted to alter its liquor license to allow drinks to be served until 1 a.m. both Friday and Saturday nights, in order to align with the operations of the pub.
"The Cowboy Ranch cookhouse license closes at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays which causes us significant difficulties because people are trying to move over into the pub side. It causes overcrowding. It's difficult for us to administer," Gable told council.
Council granted Gable's request by a vote of 6 to 1, but not before three concerned neighbours suggested the expanded hours might bring the establishment closer to being a nightclub than a neighbourhood pub.
"Having it open one extra hour doesn't sound like a lot but that does kind of start to filter people out once it gets busy. If 250 people that have been drinking all night pile out of that place at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, it can be really loud. It wakes up our kids," said local resident Michael Hilton.
"So we're concerned."
Hilton described parking in the area as a "total mess." Many patrons have been taking up street parking in residential areas due to a full parking lot outside the restaurant, he said.
Chris Billing, another resident who said he lived close by, told council that he had opposed a 2014 application by Gable to apply for a liquor primary license for the entirety of the 200-seat establishment, along with a permit for a patio. Gable's proposal was voted down by council at that time.
"We're concerned that this is creeping closer to the nightclub atmosphere that was the original intention three and a half years ago," Billing told council on Monday.
Gable insisted, after gaining council's approval for the changes, that he had heard the concerns of neighbours in the region.
"I think they're all legitimate concerns when you're dealing with liquor or public liquor policy. It's all legitimate. We try to run a well-run, well-managed food and liquor business. Fifty per cent of my business is food," Gable said.
"I think the neighbourhood should be excited and happy and pleased with a great restaurant that serves great smoked brisket and great pulled pork."
