Outdoor dining proved itself effective and well-conceived during the COVID-19 crisis, lightening the burden on local restaurants in pandemic conditions. Assistance for businesses was achieved by emergency measures approved by local authorities. With the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, business owners, consumers, and authorities start wondering about the future of outdoor dining: Is it here to stay?
The restaurant industry suffered early in the pandemic due to the fear of the virus and the consequent limitations on indoor dining. To remedy this, Orange County local lawmakers allowed business owners to move dining spaces out to the sidewalks and parking spaces.
According to the Orange County Register, entire streets were shut down to accommodate outdoor shopping and dining attractions in cities including Laguna Beach, Orange and Fullerton.
The solution is widely considered successful in helping businesses weather COVID-19 restrictions. Sales tax data shows how successful the Promenade on Forest, an outdoor dining plaza in Laguna Beach, has been. According to Laguna Beach Mayor Sue Kempf, local revenue took a nosedive early in the pandemic, but after the outdoor dining measure was implemented, it increased back to nearly pre-pandemic levels in just six months.
So why was this way of dining not popular before?
Under pre-COVID-19 California law, restaurants had to expand their liquor permit in order to serve outdoors.
State Lawmaker Scott Winer shared his thoughts regarding the process in an interview with the New York Times.
“It could be a lengthy, difficult process, with appeals. During the pandemic, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued emergency guidance that said if a city allowed it, they could expand alcohol sales outside,” Winer said.
While cities relaxed permit restrictions to support local businesses and please customers, some restrictions are slowly returning. In as early as May of 2021, The Voice of San Diego reported that city staff wanted to set up a more intensive permit approval process, which includes holding local restaurants’ temporary structures up to a more uniform code.
The city of San Clemente once allowed restaurants to pay for outdoor spaces, but all the outdoor dining attractions along the town’s center at Avenida Del Mar were mandated to close down earlier this year.
Local business owners also voiced their concerns about the closing of outdoor dining.
“If we are allowed to keep [outdoor dining structures], it will help us recover,” Chelsea Coleman, owner of the Rose wine bar in South Park, San Diego said.
The restaurant industry has gone far to adjust to the new reality of outdoor dining: building new parklets and other outdoor spaces to generate business and allow the customers to enjoy the outdoor weather and ambiance. Yet, with the uncertainty of outdoor dining’s future, business owners have been left confused.
Tony Loiacono, the owner of Parkhouse Eatery in University Heights, San Diego, said he invested $14,000 to build his outdoor dining structure, which helped increase his capacity under COVID-19 restrictions by 100%. However, with the new policies, no one seems to be sure whether it was technically legal.
“They were very vague with what we were able to do and not do,” Loiacono said.
Ellie Zhang is a City News Staff Writer. She can be reached at yitangz@uci.edu.