Restaurants in Guelph aren’t letting the lockdown dampen their spirits.
“It’s Canada for crying out loud,” said Tony Desmond, a man enjoying lunch at Wooly Pub’s winter patio on Tuesday afternoon. “If you can’t handle a little bit of a chill, then you need to dress appropriately.”
The Wooly Pub is one of the few restaurants that opened a winter patio after the province went into another lockdown that shuts indoor dining. The province requires covered outdoor dining to have two full sides open and uncovered dining areas to have one side open for airflow.
So restaurants in Guelph are putting money on heaters and insulation to provide that dining experience.
Court Desautels, owner of The Wooly Pub, said this winter has been the patio’s busiest winter ever.
“People are just happy to be out, just ecstatic to just be able to sit in to meet with somebody,” said Desautels.
The patio has one large natural gas heater and two electric infrared heaters. Desautels said the heaters are good to keep people warm on mild days when it's minus-5 C to 0 C.
In past winters, The Wooly Pub’s patio served as a warm waiting area for people to grab beer and sit outside, this year, customers are seen enjoying a full meal cuddled up in blankets.
The patio already had a heated flooring with a roof on top and open sides. Now, it has one large natural gas infrared heater and two electric infrared heaters installed.
“We have some blankets and things. We have foot warmers and hand warmers if people want to buy them,” said Desautels.
He said people often come to hang out with their friends, and for regulars, the pub is their social club.
“For some of our guests that live alone, this might be their one outlet to go hang out with somebody that's all been taken away,” he said, adding that the patio has also helped keep their staff employed.
Montana's on Stone Road also has an outdoor patio space with tall propane heaters.
Last winter, they extended the roof of their patio and now with open sides and a closed roof, they were able to comfortably fit four tables outside.
“On days that it's minus-4, minus-5 or above, people are comfortable enough to sit out there,” said Mike Van Der Hoeven, co-owner of Montana's.
“Some things work some days and some days they don’t.”
The Shakespeare Arms aims to open the doors of their patio at the end of the week. General manager Melissa Orobono said while it was very costly for the owners to rebuild the patio, it was important to keep business going.
“We were very fortunate to have really, really good owners. Even though this pandemic is literally breaking them, their priority is to try to keep their staff working. So if we can have that patio open, it is beneficial to the staff. It's helping our regulars,” said Orobono.
The patio seats approximately 20 people and has a long heater that runs from one end to the other.
