Stratford’s MountainView Church reopens The Bridge on Fenton restaurant

Isaiah Stitt and Duncan Sheed are two of the many volunteers helping at the Bridge on Fenton. Photo / Alyssa Smith

A Stratford restaurant is welcoming customers back.

The Bridge on Fenton, owned by MountainView Vineyard Church, reopened late last month.

Corrina Sheed, wife of MountainView Vineyard Church pastor John Sheed, says the team is excited to welcome people back to the restaurant.

The restaurant closed its doors in April, at the time stating increasing grocery costs as the reason. A desire to keep meals affordable meant they had to make the decision to close rather than increase costs for diners, says Corrina.

While the restaurant was temporarily closed, the team were determined to reopen and on Monday, June 27 diners were welcomed back.

To be able to reopen, the team made changes to their original opening hours and tweaked the menu, she says.

“We have a different menu and new hours. While the items may be slightly different, they’re still of the same standard our diners are used to. We’ve increased the prices slightly. The food is still affordable which was very important to us.”

Corrina says customers were queuing outside the restaurant on Monday ahead of the advertised opening time.

“There was a lot of love in the room and appreciation for what we do. We were well prepared for the opening but we were still shocked by how many people came.”

When the Stratford Press visited on Tuesday the restaurant was packed.

Tony Grubner was one of the first through the doors on Tuesday.

From left: Dick Vanner, Rony Grubner, John Fahey, Garth Wellington and Mark Fashner are pleased the restaurant is open again. Photo / Alyssa Smith

Tony says he, his friends and their wives visit The Bridge on Fenton once a week.

“It’s a nice big venue that accommodates our group.”

Mark Fasher says the cafe is an ‘icon’ in Stratford.

“The prices are reasonable, the staff are friendly and the coffees good. We’ve missed coming here on a Tuesday.”

Helen Worthington says while she comes to the restaurant with her husband, she and the other wives sit at a different table to enjoy a coffee and chat.

Helen Worthington, Jackie Barr, Rosina Spanza, Lorraine Knox, Karyl Bublitz-Fahey and Jo Vanner are regular customers at the Bridge on Fenton. Photo / Alyssa Smith

“We started meeting here three or four years ago. We enjoy meeting on a Tuesday morning to have a coffee and a chat.”

While the venue was closed Helen and her friends went to InkPot Cafe.

“The staff there were friendly and the coffee was good. It was a great place to go.”

Corrina says she and the team are happy the restaurant is open again.

“Our vision is to create community with food and we’re pleased we’ve opened again so we can do that.”

She says once the cafe has settled into a new routine, they will introduce more to the menu.

“If there are any leftovers from these we will freeze them and then give them away. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we gave away 500 meals. We enjoy helping our community and want this new edition to our menus to benefit all.”

The Bridge on Fenton is open Monday-Friday 10am-2pm.