Some Pittsburgh-area restaurant owners have outdoor dining covered amid pandemic
With the colder weather here to stay, many Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants have decided to cover outdoor spaces for continued dining to help accommodate state-mandated capacity requirements.
Some outdoor dining structures resemble mini-greenhouses. Others look like plastic domes.
Bakersfield Pittsburgh has tents, heaters and picnic-bench seating on Penn Avenue. At Bourbon & Bridges two doors down, diners can eat in enclosed spaces made from a type of vinyl with heating, cushioned chairs, tables. Bluetooth-connected speakers allows guests to play their favorite music from their smartphone.
In Market Square, there are several covered outdoor dining spaces, including The Original Oyster House, Las Velas and Primanti Bros.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership expanded outdoor seating opportunities a few months ago at Market Square, Sixth Street, Strawberry Way and the 900 block of Penn Avenue. More than 30 restaurants took advantage of that.
When it comes to safety, infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja says the structures can be safe if they are limited to single dining parties, ventilated and frequently disinfected.
“As outdoor dining structures more closely resemble indoor dining, their safety advantage decreases,” said Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
The PDP announced a grant of a maximum of $3,000 may be awarded to each restaurant that applies for reimbursement of outdoor dining materials that have recently been purchased. Funds may be used for, but are not limited to, heaters, heated seat cushions/floor mats, tented structures, outdoor dining furniture, awnings, lighting, landscaping, barriers, electrical work and sanitizer stations.
The PDP calls this a way to extend the business opportunity window for restaurants impacted by the covid pandemic as the weather starts to change
“We are making the best of it,” said Gregory Huertas, regional managing partner of Bakersfield Pittsburgh and the Eagle Food and Beer Hall, scheduled to open on Penn Avenue. “Having outdoor seating helps us out because we have limited indoor space. We really need this additional seating and we noticed outdoor dining slowing down once the weather got cooler.”
The tables are spaced at least six feet apart.
Huertas said business has been struggling because there are fewer people coming Downtown for work, affecting lunchtime crowds, and for entertainment in the evenings and on weekends. The Cultural Trust isn’t presenting shows and sports are being held with limited fans.
“The city is really trying to help us by having the Christmas trees put up and the Creche and the PPG Ice Rink open,” he said.
As soon as he installed the domes, his phone started ringing off the hook, said Scott Shaffer, managing partner of Bridges & Bourbon.
The structures are 11 feet 9 inches wide and 7 feet 2 inches tall. They have a base area of 107 feet. Some seat six people and others eight. He said they are available by reservation only and $200 minimum for food and beverage for 2½ hours maximum. They stagger reservations so the domes can be cleaned and sanitized.
Shaffer said he saw the domes in Chicago and New York. They are made by Gardenigloo USA.
“We have space outside to put them so we decided to do it,” he said. “We had to figure out something. We can’t just survive with indoor dining.”
In McCandless, the North Park Lounge has eight mini-greenhouses set up for outdoor dining. They are heated, equipped with vents and seat up to four. Workers disinfect each greenhouse after each use. The restaurant is adding six additional in the next two weeks. They have a string of lights and space heaters for evening dining.
They are on a first-come first-served basis. The new ones will accommodate six people.
“People have really liked them,” said Jason Klein, one of the restaurant managers. “People are leery about dining inside and with the (covid-19) numbers spiking, I think more people will prefer the greenhouses.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.