Durham expands outdoor dining. Will it help downtown survive the winter?

Bull City restaurants and bars got a boost last week when the city expanded outside seating for several more months.

The City Council extended Durham’s sidewalk and street dining order to June 30 or when the county’s state of emergency declaration ends, whichever comes first. The city’s rules had been set to expire Dec. 31.

Restaurants can also set up more outdoor tables: 50% of a restaurant’s indoor capacity, up from 25%.

“There was a bit of an experiment going on here when we first tried this, but we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community,” Durham Planning Director Sara Young said..

The city’s action arrives as state and local leaders continue to worry about the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on restaurants, which have struggled to stay afloat since March.

Luna Rotisserie and Empanadas, a South American restaurant on East Main Street, had only two outside tables before the pandemic.

Now, the restaurant has about 10 tables outside in a nearby park. The seating area has lights, lanterns and a heater for every table.

“It’s been incredibly helpful,” assistant manager Darnell Williams said. “It’s also something that our customers really appreciate.”

Nicole Thompson, president of Downtown Durham Inc., said more outdoor dining will help the local economy but small businesses will only survive if people continue to buy meals and drinks — especially on chilly days.

“On a warm day/evening, eating outside will be great, but on those days and evenings that are a bit cooler, I would strongly encourage people to NOT forget about our struggling restaurants and consider doing carry-out or delivery,” Thompson wrote in an email to The N&O.

Williams said he expects the winter will be challenging for Luna Rotisserie and Empanadas.

“Because even with heaters, at a certain temperature, it gets a little too cold to sit outside,” he said.

Temperatures in the Southeast are expected to hover around 41 degrees in January, with some snow in the beginning of the month, according to long-term weather forecasts by the Old Farmer’s Alamanac.

Downtown Durham struggles

The pandemic will exacerbate the challenges independently owned restaurants already face during the holiday season, Thompson said.

“Winters are typically a bit slower. However, pre-COVID, our businesses were coming off of very successful spring, summers and falls,” Thompson wrote in an email. “Not this year.”

“Add to this shorter days, colder weather, offices still working remotely and our event venues like DPAC still closed, our downtown businesses need our support and help more than ever,” she wrote.

The Durham Performing Arts Center closed to the public March 15 because of the pandemic, The N&O reported. The theater had scheduled productions of several award winning musicals and plays for this and next year, including “Hadestown” and “Hamilton,” which have been postponed to 2022.

To boost sales and attract more foot traffic to the area during the fall and early winter, Durham had blocked off thoroughfares downtown to allow restaurants and bars to put up more tables on Fridays and Saturdays.

The weekly event, called the Streetery, had ended early this month because of the state’s spike in COVID-19 cases, The N&O reported.

Thompson told city and county leaders at a Dec. 11 meeting that the Streetery’s closure was not because restaurants were not following social distancing guidelines.

“I want to be very clear. They were complying,” she said.

To help support businesses, Thompson suggests people take the Takeout Pledge, a vow to order bites to go at least twice a week.

The initiative was started by Seth Gross, owner of Bull City Burger and Brewery, Pompieri Pizza, and Bull City Solera and Taproom, she said.

Considering long-term outdoor dining

At a meeting last week, one council member suggested the city consider making additional outdoor dining a more permanent change in Durham.

“We have a ton of unused, off-street parking in downtown Durham, and it’s hard to set up restaurant tables on a parking deck,” Council member Charlie Reece said. “But our staff has given the folks who work in downtown Durham, those businesses, a great set of instructions and opportunities to do that in spaces that are otherwise used to store cars.”

“I think it’s fantastic,” he added.

Reece recommended the City Council think about finding ways to make more use of downtown spaces for selected times in the spring, summer, and fall, when the weather is more agreeable.

Thompson told The N&O that it is an intriguing idea, and she is exploring it with some businesses.

“There are a number of considerations that must be taken into account, one being that at this time a huge daytime population (office workers, visitors, tourists) aren’t in downtown and removing parking might negatively impact them,” she wrote. “We need to consider all voices and try to work out a solution that is beneficial to all.”