Since the start of the pandemic, outdoor dining has proven to be not just a means for keeping the lights on, but a highly profitable option for numerous restaurants nationwide.
The National Restaurant Association’s recently released 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry report shows that 62% of fine dining and 56% of casual dining operators have dedicated more resources to developing and expanding outdoor dining since March 2020, with an increasing number of diners now expecting outdoor dining options to become standard offerings.
Chicago, for example, expanded its outdoor dining program in the summer of 2020 after experiencing success from a pilot in three city corridors. Those pilots helped more than 250 restaurants and bars to maintain their businesses, according to the city, leading many to call for making the program permanent.
New York City ‘s outdoor dining model, meanwhile, allowed for dining in several formerly traffic-jammed streets, saving nearly 100,000 jobs in the process, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. The success of this and other similar programs has led cities like New York, Rochester, and Boston to bring back their outdoor dining programs in 2021.
Closer to home, The Traffic Group assisted the Fells Point community in Baltimore in setting up outdoor dining areas within parking spaces and streets early in the pandemic.
While the prevalence of outdoor dining undoubtedly has helped restaurants and diners alike, it does present some issues of concern from a traffic (and safety) perspective. At its most basic, the success of outdoor dining options relied in large part on insuring that vehicles on the road would be safely diverted away from diners at their tables.
In New York City, for example, outdoor dining locations are found primarily within parking areas that run adjacent to bicycle lanes and bike tracks. Bikes there routinely travel at 20-25 MPH in these bike lanes, accompanied by everything from scooters and skateboards to nearly every other type of motorized personal mobility vehicle, including electric unicycles. As a result, signs are posted everywhere which instruct diners (and other pedestrians) to “stop” and “look both ways” before crossing the bike path.
Given the success of these initiatives, it seems likely that outdoor dining in streets, parklets, and sidewalks is an integral part of the new normal that is here to stay. But some changes will be necessary.
Due to the increased use of personal mobility vehicles, places like Fells Point and Manhattan will need to reduce the amount of on-street parking in order to provide adequate space for permanent or semi-permanent outdoor dining activities.
While government agencies are unlikely to go back to prohibiting outdoor dining in parklets, they will need to establish a whole new zoning category that may require a Special Exception.
Finally, the use of parking spaces for outdoor dining will likely lead to increased use of personal mobility devices or mobility services, such as Uber and Lyft.
Bottom line, outdoor dining provides an opportunity for small businesses (which coincidentally make up 99% of all businesses in the country) to serve their clientele in a new and different way. Many of these diners are always on the lookout for new experiences, so they will welcome the chance to be dining outside on 50- or 60-degree days or won’t mind dining outdoors during 40-degree days if heating and enclosures are provided.
Is outdoor dining here to stay? The answer seems to be a resounding yes as America’s entrepreneurial spirit comes to the fire, even in the face of a game-changing pandemic.