A restaurant is defending itself after claims that it has been flouting COVID-19 rules. 

Photos taken outside Chaise Corydon in Winnipeg this past weekend appeared to show its patio packed with patrons.

Chaise Corydon has already been issued with two tickets for breaking COVID-19 rules, however, its owner claims the restaurant is not in the wrong.

if you could stop the increase in covid numbers in winnipeg by shutting down one restaurant which one would you pick and why chaise corydon?

— carly (@carlyrackal) August 2, 2020

In a written response to Freshdaily, owner Shea Ritchie reminded people that there are "always two sides of every coin."

"We have been in business for seven years with neither a fine from the Health Department nor The Liquor Commission. We didn't stop following the rules now that the fines are extremely high."

Explaining what was happening when the photo of the crowded patio was taken, Ritchie says people were actually "on three outdoor patios and the sidewalk in between."

"I know people have found all sorts of 'rules' broken here (no masks, people closer than two metres, people standing, dancing, etc) but those are not actual rules," he claims.

@cityofwinnipeg Chaise Corydon violations continue. I’ve interacted with the owner who just doesn’t care. His law abiding competitors are at a disadvantage. provincial enforcement site says to forward info to you. This is from an individual on Facebook who took time to post this. pic.twitter.com/Q9NxTy9j6M

— MBJet (@mbjet) August 2, 2020

Many people have started leaving negative reviews on the restaurant's Facebook page, but Ritchie and his restaurant are not taking the criticism lying down. 

In response to a post asking the restaurant to follow "rules regarding social distancing," the restaurant retorted: "Have you tried our Bleutine? We polled people on Facebook and they would risk certain death for 2nds."

Ritchie says the tickets the restaurant has received from health inspectors should never have been issued.

He claims the health inspectors actually changed the reason for the fine from social distancing to something else after realizing the restaurant did not break any social distancing rules.

be angry at Chaise Corydon for continually flouting regulations. Please do. Be angry at the people congregating there to flout regulations too. But be angriest at the government telling people to go out and spend spend spend, but also hey don’t go near each other. But go spend.

— CERBy’s dream land (@bootswell) August 3, 2020

Manitoba's rules right now state patrons should be two-metres apart — except between booths and between tables where there is a non-permeable physical barrier.

But Ritchie says insists that "the rules that MB Health sends to the businesses are not the same as the ones the government posted online." 

It is not known if the people in the photos were in the same social bubble and therefore exempt from the two-metre rule or if the photos are distorting the true distance between customers.