South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
The power of the patio
Despite summer rains, restaurants moving tables onto sidewalks, streets
If dining al fresco is your thing, then now is definitely your time. Diners venturing out will find tables stretching onto sidewalks and streets, with tents and umbrellas to protect them from the unpredictable rains and sweltering heat of summer.
Restaurateurs are betting that pent-up desire will draw diners to their expanded outdoor seating, giving them the business they need to survive. But the weather already has been difficult.
“This past week has been treacherous,” says Eddie Pozzuoli, managing partner of Prezo, an Italian pizza and pasta restaurant in Boca Raton. “Much of our [outdoor] seating is not covered. We have umbrellas, but that is not going to stop the driving rain. It’s a little bit difficult ... but we are trying to make the best of the situation.”
Prezzo is working with its landlord to expand its outdoor seating, from 80 to a little over 100. “And this morning we were looking at two parallel parking spaces in front,” Pozzuoli says.
As quickly as they can, eateries are bumping up table service on patios, decks and parking lots. The goal: to keep tables six feet apart and dining rooms at 50 percent capacity without losing 50 percent of their business.
To ease the way, cities from West Palm Beach to Hollywood are closing streets and allowing restaurants to expand onto sidewalks and alleyways.
Restaurants are already looking ahead to further relaxation of the rules.
“The good news is that we expect inside capacity limitations to improve in the coming weeks,” predicts Frank Zaffere, a spokesman for Quarterdeck Restaurants. “There is no doubt that many of our cus
tomers will likely prefer outdoor seating due to virus concerns. “Without question, patio dining capacity will be critical to restaurant success, not just here in South Florida, but across the country.”
Quarterdeck Restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach, Davie and Sawgrass Mills all have large patio seating areas with shade coverings, fans and placement taking into account prevailing winds. The newest location on 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale has a fixed roof over an 80-seat outdoor dining area.
At Vinos Wine Bar on Galt Ocean Mile in Fort Lauderdale, manager Erin Fontes says, “Our only fear is rain that is affected by wind, which is common, especially in this current season. So it will be a matter of navigating pros and cons and maneuvering through changes day to day.”
But, she says, “We aren’t a company who is willing to risk lives by breaking any rules, so the outside seating will absolutely be vital.” Vinos has other locations on Las Olas Boulevard (in the process of moving across the street), Coconut Grove and Key West as well as the Hotsy-Totsy Bar and Grill in Hollywood.
Jean D’Eire, of the cozy Le Patio Wilton Manors with 10 seats inside and 21 outside, says that she and her chef/wife/co-owner Vero Leroux considered spacing out the patio seating by removing a table. They even thought about Plexiglas divisions.
“We were thinking of going to expand into the car park,” D’Eire says. “But it’s the end of May. Next week is the first of June. So it’s offseason, it’s … hot and humid and raining this time of year. And business is going to be slow this time of year. Do we need to make any changes or not? It’s summertime, so it’s slower than it usually is [during season]. We are actually running 50 percent capacity anyway.”
Todd Herbst, co-owner of Big Time Restaurant Group (with dining brands in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach Gardens), summed up how they will deal with the weather: “Where we don’t have tents or awnings, pray.”
Plus-size patios pay off
Restaurants that already have outdoor seating have an advantage.
“We have two and half months of profits that we lost and at the same time we’ve got to create a safe place for our guests. It’s definitely essential. For those establishments that do not have an outdoor seating area, I feel for them. Twenty-five or 50 percent … is going to really take a toll on any business,” says Sean Kelly, general manager of C.W.S. Bar and Kitchen in Lake Worth.
C.W.S. has two patios, one on the west side of the gastropub with a barbecue grill and a larger patio on the east side with a bar, seating and a stage. Kelly says that before the coronavirus lockdown they were already in the process of expanding their patio, commandeering their parking lot and possibly getting two large shipping containers, one for storage and the other to be converted into an outdoor bar.
“We moved some of the tables to maximize our occupancy,” Kelly adds. “We took our stage out temporarily. The front seating areas, what we call the stadium, we will utilize for live entertainment focusing on solo and duo artists until we are confident that we can safely have full bands back on our programming.”
C.W.S is part of the Damn Good Hospitality group, which includes Revolution Live, Stache Drinking Den and Coffee Bar, Green Bar and Kitchen and America’s Backyard.
Scott Frielich, vice president of Sub-Culture Restaurant and Nightclub Group, with 14 businesses from Jupiter to Miami Beach, says, “In just the short time we’ve been able to open, we’ve noticed that our locations with outdoor seating are doing much better than those without that seating. You know, people here they like being in the fresh air. They like that a lot.”
Sub-Culture’s Dubliner Irish Pub and Kapow Noodle Bar in Mizner Park have been helped by the city of Boca Raton’s closure of one lane of traffic so that eateries can add tables .“It is definitely crucial for us ,” Frielich says.
Burt Rapoport, president of the Rapoport Restaurant Group, with four properties in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, says they added 12 tables to their pre-pandemic sidewalk seating at the popular bistro Max’s Grille in Mizner Park.
“The way it works is there are barricades down the middle of the street running north and south,” explains Rapoport. “It used to be an area where two cars could get by and now it’s one. One of the lanes is for seating and one of the lanes is for emergency vehicles. So, we have part of the space from in front of the [parking] valet stand to our property line.”
Delray Beach’s Johnnie Browns — with expansive seating in front and back — just reopened under new management and already they confirm that patios are a big part of the future.
“Since our reopening this Monday, we’ve seen an immediate positive response from the public to this and we know that our covered, open-air seating will continue to play a critical role with our guests and our business moving forward,” says managing partner Craig O’Keefe. “Margins are tighter now more than ever with social distancing measures in place, so all available seating square footage at any restaurant helps.”
Clearing the path (and sidewalks, streets and lots) for restaurants
As with Mizner Park, some cities in Broward and Palm Beach counties are rolling back restrictions for tables on sidewalks, and a few are even closing streets to allow restaurateurs to spread out even farther.
■ Delray Beach will temporarily allow dining and retail businesses to expand outdoors as well as existing sidewalk usage. “Our main intent is to create these popup patios,” says Laura Simon, executive director of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority. She says they are considering reducing Atlantic Avenue to one lane on certain nights, “on an off-night, like a Wednesday evening, but not something where it’s closed all the time.” DelrayBeachFL.gov.
■ Boca Raton has relaxed some codes, allowing restaurants to apply for permission to spread out, temporarily, according to the city’s website. Brandon Schaad, development services director, explains, “This is a program established by the city administration to help restaurants temporarily expand outdoor seating while indoor capacity reductions are in place, and to provide a safer alternative to indoor dining.” MyBoca.us.
■ West Palm Beach is about to enact a “Dining on the Spot” initiative that will allow café seating to extend onto downtown streets, parking lots and alleyways. This will be particularly helpful on the dining/drinking/shopping enclave of Clematis Street, which has several blocks of lane closures due to major streetscape construction project. DowntownWPB.com.
■ Hollywood has launched a Temporary Café Zone Expansion Program that allows restaurants to expand dining areas along the beach’s Broadwalk, in downtown Hollywood and adjacent to established restaurants citywide. HollywoodFL.org.
■ In Fort Lauderdale, Galt Ocean Mile businesses are petitioning city commissioners for parking lots and side streets to partially shut down so restaurants and eventually bars can extend outdoor seating, according to Cathy Vassallo, president of the North Beach Restaurants and Shoppes group. “We are asking after regular business hours, say five or six at night, possibly looking into [extending tables and service] out into the street and make it into a sort of piazza, like in Europe,” says Vassallo, who owns Fishtales Resaturant and Nightclub. “We didn’t want interfere with everyone’s business during the day.” NoBePlaces.com.