Patio regulations create opportunity
Are Alberta summers becoming hotter and longer? Local businesses may now offer relief — more patios! Alberta’s restaurants and lounges are being encouraged to create more user-friendly patios, thanks to modified liquor service regulations.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci announced the changes earlier this month, along with Alain Maisonneuve, acting president of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.
“Albertans enjoy the outdoors, and patios are great meeting places for Albertans to enjoy themselves,” Ceci said. “They make our neighbourhoods welcoming and vibrant.”
The updates, he said, will make it easier for businesses to create patios “that recognize the unique character of the building, neighbourhood and customers.”
They’ll also benefit smaller facilities, points out Lethbridge businessperson Deb Pallett — including craft breweries.
“This will allow them to host sampling events, and accommodate a larger number of people.”
Some of the province’s micro-breweries, she says, simply don’t have the space within their building.
Pallett, a partner in the city’s Coulee Brew Co., says patios are increasingly popular. The patio on Coulee’s sheltered east side has been open about 90 per cent of the time since June, she reports.
“They’re a place where people can come and gather,” enjoying the season while it lasts.
With Alberta’s craft brew industry growing steadily, she says customers share their views on the many new selections, along with their other summer plans.
Changes have also opened patios to the whole family, Pallett points out. On the large patio at Coulee, children can enjoy games after their meal.
Other updates announced this summer include opportunities for sidewalk patios, without the need for permanent fences or walls. Customers may also walk directly into a patio with the need to enter a facility and then return outside through another door.
And Pallett says patio space may be expanded for special events.
Coulee is building a firepit for the patio area, she says, and plans a pig roast later this summer. For gourmands, the Prairie oyster “testicle festival” will also return.
And following the successful introduction of Alberta’s craft beers to Calgary Stampede fans this month, Pallett says a number of craft brewery owners from across the province are planning to come to Lethbridge for a special event during Whoop-Up Days.
“They’ll be creating a ‘Unity Brew,’ with proceeds going to charity.”