When a cold snap hit Chicago last month, Cy Oldham was prepared. The owner of Uptown bar Fat Cat lit the heat lamps and fire pits on the patio and invited guests to cozy up with a warm Bourbon cider.
The $7,000 investment in heaters, fire pits and propane tanks paid off.
“We had to figure out how to make it warm and cozy in the hope we can get a few more months of patio seating,” says Oldham. “If I didn’t have those heaters [when the cold snap hit], I would have lost half of my revenue.”
The coronavirus pandemic hit restaurants hard. In the first three months after COVID-related shutdowns, restaurants lost an estimated $120 billion in sales, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Social distancing mandates led to restrictions on indoor dining, forcing restaurants to depend on patio seating to keep their businesses afloat.
Outdoor seating helped
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