The Kilted Kangaroo in Dundee was stunned by an outpouring of support on social media after it shared pictures of its refurbished outdoor area, ready for when beer gardens get the go-ahead to reopen.
A Dundee pub has had a much-needed boost on social media after it shared its newly-laid out beer garden with followers.
It follows disappointment for bar and restaurant owners last week when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that beer gardens wouldn’t be able to open again until July 2 at the earliest.
The Kilted Kangaroo on Dundee’s Roseangle (formerly Laings and, more recently, the Boozy Cow) received more than 1,600 Facebook comments from locals and would-be pubgoers eager for the bar and restaurant to reopen its doors.
Referring to the popularity of the post, co-owner Andrew Mitchell said: “We’ve never seen anything like it. You don’t usually get something like that unless you’re giving something away but not for something that’s basically community interest.
“I think the popularity of it is due to people liking what we’ve done and also, for a lot of people, they’ll be reminiscing back to the old Laings days.
“We’re trying to create a separate environment from the unit (restaurant) itself – so once you’re down at the bottom of the beer garden you don’t really need to go anywhere else.
“It’s completely self-serving. There’s a container bar there, portaloos, and, as of yesterday, there’s a 180-metre temporary marquee, with a removable roof for sunny days. It can come down and go up with a couple of hours notice.
“At the moment we have everything set out at two-metres apart. It wouldn’t make a massive difference for us if [social distancing regulations] changed to one-metre apart. It won’t double capacity but it will give us a bit more peace of mind.
“I think a one-metre rule will be much more manageable for establishments, when the time comes.”
Like many other bars across Courier Country, pints are ready to be pulled within the hour of go ahead, at the Kilted Kangaroo.
Andrew says: “We were ready last week, when we thought we were going to be able to open.
“I think the First Minister has been edging on the side of caution so we can be disappointed but we can’t really criticise.
“When this started we were thinking we weren’t going to be able to re-open until October, November, maybe even December, which would be hard because you lose all the summer business.
“But if we can get a bit of July, into August and September then we will be happy with that.”
