Future of Restaurants Heads to the Curb As Cities Pave Way for Outdoor Dining
City officials from New York to Los Angeles are scrambling to help restaurants reopen, and many are focusing on expanding into previously unused outdoor space as capacity restrictions and safety precautions for restaurants across the United States are unlikely to ease anytime soon.
(The third of three parts examining how restaurants are using their property differently to cope with the pandemic.)
From vacant parking lots and parks to city sidewalks and alleys, cities are creating more outdoor space by repurposing other uses into new al fresco dining rooms. It's intended to help the battered restaurant industry, which the National Restaurant Association has reported is on track to sustain roughly $240 billion in losses by the end of the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We're just trying to tread water and break even at this point," Amanda Michael, the owner of three San Francisco cafes said of keeping her business afloat. "It's hard to think about anything too far in the future since everything now is pretty overwhelming. It's a day-to-day kind of business now."
As cities gradually emerge from their respective stay-at-home orders, restaurants have been allowed to reopen their indoor dining rooms under a wide range of capacity restrictions. Restaurants in states including Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, New Mexico and parts of Texas will or have been allowed to fill half their dining rooms if they decide to resume business. In major cities including New York, Seattle, parts of California's Bay Area, Chicago and Boston, however, restaurants have largely been given the green light for outdoor service only.
With more space for social distancing, increased airflow and fewer high-touch surfaces, outdoor dining has been touted as the safest first step when it comes to reopening a restaurant for service.
The limitations have pushed city officials to get creative in figuring out ways to allow restaurant operations to take to the streets, sometimes literally. In Berkeley, California, the city is moving through legislation that would close entire city streets to allow restaurants to repurpose them into outdoor seating areas. In San Jose, Mayor Sam Liccardo helped propose “Al Fresco San Jose,” a program that would allow restaurants and other businesses to take over parking lots, shut down stretches of city streets and portion off areas of a public park for open-air services.
In Southern California, both San Diego and Los Angeles are trying to get plans off the ground to ease restrictions on outdoor dining. Both cities are working on programs that would use adjacent sidewalks and outdoor space like parking lots or alleys and would ease restrictions on operators' ability to use them.
Solution for Some
The New York City Council introduced a plan that would distribute free, temporary permits for outdoor dining in spaces such as plazas, sidewalks, streets and parking lots. Brooklyn City Councilman Antonio Reynoso and other local legislators with similar bills have said they would help restaurants recover from sales decimated by the pandemic, all while ensuring social-distancing protocols and other safety measures remain in effect.
But this creative solution isn't an option for many restaurants, and Maven Properties broker Pamela Mendelsohn said it's akin to curbside retail.
"It's nothing they can survive on long term," the San Francisco-based broker said, adding that the capacity restrictions make it economically unfeasible. "Restaurants and cafes and bars are in horrible condition. Everyone right now is just battling for their business, and it gets expensive when you keep having to pivot."
Even with plans to help restaurants reopen in the outdoors, most operators still face a number of hurdles in making it happen. According to recent survey results conducted by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which lobbies on behalf of San Francisco businesses, more than 60% of the city's restaurants currently hold an outdoor seating permit. While more than 40% of the survey's respondents said using public seating arrangements would help them survive, more than one-third said it still wouldn't help them make up for lost revenue.
The weather can be difficult, with rain, wind and unrelenting summer sun posing a logistical challenge. Solutions such as canopy dining area covers or windscreens can end up contributing to the costs of reopening outside. San Francisco restaurant operator Michael said extra gear can be expensive, especially for restaurants and cafes that have have never operated outdoor dining.
"The city has this idea that it's some kind of a gift to put tables and chairs outdoors, but it's a whole operation that we haven't prepared ourselves for," the restaurant owner said. "We don't have that kind of furniture, and it's a major expenditure to pivot to outdoor dining. I'm not spending a penny I don't have to spend right now."
Costs aside, Michael said the ability to operate outside is better than a bare-bones setup indoors. She got on a wait list for one of San Francisco's tables-and-chairs permits, which essentially leases sidewalk space on a per-square-foot basis to a restaurant operator.
