Hospitality bosses were last night still questioning whether they can secure vital trade this weekend.
The Scottish Government is due to publish new coronavirus regulations for the trade today, only hours before they take effect.
While the general basis of the new national rules, coming into play at 6pm tonight, has been published, the finer detail was still being finalised yesterday.
The information vacuum left cafe, pub and restaurant owners unclear of what exactly will be expected of them – and whether tweaks to existing rules will be made.
Paul Clarkson, of major Aberdeen hospitality chain PB Devco, is pushing for changes to the rules around beer tents in the city centre which he says could “make or break” his business.
The group owns venues including Soul, The Draft Project and The Queen Vic – and has already closed three sites in reaction to the rules.
Soul has erected a marquee in its front beer garden and another in Bon Accord Street – in the closed-off section installed as part of the £1.76m citywide physical distancing project.
PB Devco wants the rules changed to allow them to have more of a wall on these tents to protect customers from the elements, as currently 50% of the wall space can be covered.
Around the corner at The Draft Project, in Langstane Place, in the shell of the former Bruce Millers shop, Mr Clarkson is also crossing his fingers rule makers “play ball” and deem the 280-people marquee an outdoor space.
Current regulations – using the same definition of indoors and outdoors as the smoking ban – rule there isn’t enough space between the edge of the tent and the neighbouring walls – although Mr Clarkson claims to have been told this rule is under review.
The venue was trading under the impression it was an outside space – fitting more people in as a result in its brief trade before Aberdeen’s second lockdown – before the blunder came to light.
From tonight, outdoor venues can serve alcohol until 10pm while service indoors will be dry and end at 6pm.
Last night Mr Clarkson told The P&J: “I very much want that open because it is, in essence, outdoors and certainly it offers good space for distance and complying with the restrictions.
“It’s a waiting game. We have left our reservation diary open for the Draft Project and, as many believe it to be outdoors, bookings have filled up considerably.
“I’m not full of confidence this all won’t last longer than 16 days and these outdoor areas could be the difference between surviving or not.”
Meanwhile the owner of DaVinci Ristorante hit out at the lack of clear cut guidance, which led her to believe she could operate as a ‘bring your own bottle’ (BYOB) establishment from this weekend.
Elena Ionascu questioned the point of remaining open without it, branding it “madness” and threatened to “close up and hand the keys back to the landlord”.
Scottish Government sources ruled out BYOB trading as a means to get around the ban on selling alcohol indoors.
