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If you have been out to eat in the last three months, you will have probably sat in a windy tent in a parking lot, or if you are lucky, on a covered sidewalk. You may have also noticed that many restaurants have gone to considerable expense to create an outdoor area in order to continue operating under the government mandated lockdown restrictions.
The expense isn’t limited to just the rental or purchase of the tents and heaters. It’s the increased costs associated with trying to make the outdoor dining experience in the winter as tolerable as possible. One restaurant owner in Whatcom county is now spending over $3000 per month in propane costs to heat the outdoor space and, in an effort to offset the additional cost, is no longer heating the interior of his building.
The tents are expensive to rent, often $1000 a week for a large, framed tent. The heat and tent rental add to the operational cost for the restaurant owner making it almost impossible to turn a profit.
Once the lockdowns are lifted, many restaurants will be returning the rented tents and chairs. For some resturants you may see permanent expanded outdoor dining options. For others, they will need to repurpose the makeshift covers for something else. No matter what the situation, the last three months of lockdown have been very expensive for the local restaurant owner.
The sooner the state relaxes the lockdowns, the faster restaurants can get back to a more profitable (and warm) business.
Thank your lucky stars we are not dealing with a New York snowstorm.
