With dining-in back on the menu, Langley restaurants are getting busy again

With the end of the “circuit breaker” and return of dining-in, the Langley restaurant scene is getting busy again.

The Barley Merchant, a new taproom and kitchen, has announced it will be hiring 70 to 80 staff for their new 200-seat North Langley establishment.

Located at 20090 91A Ave. near the Colossus Movie Theatres in Thunderbird Village, the operation will be holding an outdoor hiring fair from June 10th to 13th to fill many of the available front-of-house and back-of-house positions.

READ ALSO: Langley restaurants, businesses happy to see re-opening roadmap

Owned and operated by lifelong Langley residents Tim and Theresa LaHay along with their partners, seasoned restaurateurs, Marv and Eddie Emerman, The Barley Merchant is opening a year later than planned.

WE’RE OPENING IN JULY!
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Register for our outdoor hiring fair that will run from June 10th-13th at our Langley restaurant.
HERE—> https://t.co/3X6a2C7wjc or send your resume to joinourteam@thebarleymerchant.com pic.twitter.com/RDQKcpRrvF

— The Barley Merchant Taproom (@BarleyMerchant) June 3, 2021

Construction was slated to begin back in March of 2020 with a summer opening in mind but like many others in the hospitality industry, the pandemic threw them a real curveball.

“The first few weeks after restaurants and bars were forced to close, we found ourselves facing an uncertain future and there were some days that [we thought] our dream might not happen” Tim said.

“Then, as the restaurants and breweries reopened in limited capacity after the first shutdown, we got back out to support many of our local favourites and we knew that we had to press on and do everything we could to bring The Barley Merchant to life.”

READ MORE: B.C. stops indoor dining, fitness, religious services due to COVID-19 spike

Elsewhere, Townhall Langley had closed for renovations on March 29, and was set to reopen 45 days later, but due to the shutdown, owners The Joseph Richard Group (JRG) decided to wait for dine-in service to return before reopening doors on Friday, June 4.

Located at at 19640 64 Ave., it is the original Townhall location, which opened 10 years ago and marked the first public house or restaurant venture for the hospitality group.

A company release said the makeover, which includes a revised menu, represents what customers can now expect from any new Public House location moving forward. Four Townhall locations remain with the original look and these will also get the same upgrades.

In a final step to reinvent Townhall, JRG has decided to drop the Public House label, naming it Townhall rather than Townhall Public House.