Increasingly, diners are taking good eats outdoors.
According to a July 2023 travelandleisure.com article, “Dining is done best when it comes with a side of fresh air, so it’s no surprise that customers are clamoring for outdoor dining more than ever before. According to OpenTable, the demand for eating outdoors rose 19 percent in the first half of June, compared to the same period last year.”
And an August 2022 article at planetitzen.com titled “Americans Have Fallen in Love with Outdoor Dining,” states: “Started as a response to pandemic restrictions, al fresco dining has taken off as customers, restaurant owners, and city officials realize the social and economic benefits of outdoor dining spaces.
“According to the National Restaurant Association,” the article continues, “forty percent of consumers say they’re more likely to choose a restaurant with outdoor seating.”
Local restaurateurs said they’re seeing that trend and feeding it.
The Autumn Cafe at 244 Main St. in Oneonta, hosts diners on its back deck from about May through late autumn. Owners Wayne and Rebecca Carrington purchased the Autumn in December 2016, though it opened in 1981.
“They opened it in ’81 and expanded on to the back deck in the late ‘80s,” Wayne Carrington said. “Since then, it’s become an Oneonta tradition as a place to dine outside right on Main Street, with a gorgeous southern view of the City of the Hills. We have about 80 seats (there), so we pretty much double in the summer.”
At Muddy River Farm Brewery’s West End location, owner Jared Wood said the site, which includes the titular taproom alongside Wakeman Coffee and Ty’s Taco-Ria, features an 800-square-foot sunken patio with seating for “roughly 50 people.” The West Gate Plaza space opened in early November.
“It’s going to have a lounge area in one space and multiple tables along the back wall that can be adjusted depending on the size of your party,” he said. “Half of it is shaded with a shade awning, because it’s south-facing, so it’s going to be really nice in summertime. There’s gigantic windows looking out (from inside the taproom), that are actually a 20-foot-long sliding door that opens out to the patio, and I plan on doing some live music or acts out there. Because it’s sunken, it creates a natural stage on the one end, so we’ll have music throughout the summer, and we envision having some flea markets or something like that along the side of the building and cornhole tournaments.
“This is the direction I’m seeing smaller restaurants go,” Wood continued. “We are very big on QR codes, and we encourage people to just chill at their seats, order their food themselves, get the text and head up (to the food window), so we’re very non-pretentious and very efficient and that bodes well for a larger space outdoors. It’s also fun to be able to order for a larger group that way and make it more communal.”
Kevin Greene, a manager at the Tulip and the Rose Cafe, said the 435 Main St., Franklin restaurant has offered outdoor seating since its 2014 opening. The cafe’s front patio area seats about 30, he said.
“We’ve always had some outdoor dining,” he said. “There was the front and back patio that were just part of the deal when we got the place and, I can’t remember if it was 100% the pandemic or not, but that might have been when we really expanded to the front outdoor dining, putting a bunch of tables on the lawn. And we’ve done a bunch since then, with gravel on the lawn and putting umbrellas out there to make it nice. We have plans for doing other stuff too, especially to extend it more into the night or later into the season; we’ll have heaters out there and things like that to extend it. A lot of times, in summer, it’ll be packed outside and hardly anyone inside, because people really do seem to love it.”
Social Eats Cafe – Project 607 owner Michelle Rubin said the 546 Main St., Oneonta site was designed with outdoor dining in mind.
“We opened July 11, 2022 … and we opened with that intention,” she said. “We were a customized, newly built building and there was very limited outdoor options for our area. Knowing how beautiful it is here in our nicer summer months, we wanted to provide the community and guests an outdoor space to appreciate our area. We’re lucky to have four seasons, so we do try to get outside year-round. We have igloos that are heated that we put out on the back patio; this year was our first winter with them and they were good, but they will be better. And we are sourcing to get our front patio weatherized as well, so we can have seating through the winter months. People really love it and it’s nice to be able to be in the fresh air and still be warm enough to have a meal.”
Outdoor seating, Rubin said, doubles the cafe’s capacity to 120. This summer, she said, she plans to add a firepit to the restaurant’s backyard cornhole area.
Sources said the COVID-19 pandemic played a part in driving outdoor dining interest.
“Many restaurants that began with temporary seating installations that were broken down at the end of the night are shifting to more permanent designs,” the planetitzen piece states. “Even as fears of COVID-19 subside, customers seem to enjoy the diversity of options offered by al fresco dining, and cities have started to extend programs slated for termination and relax rules related to outdoor dining facilities.”
A November 2022 restaurantdive.com article echoes: “At the height of the pandemic, outdoor dining was an innovative solution to many restaurant woes. It was common to see diners braving freezing temperatures to get a bite to eat and, for some restaurants, it was the only option they could offer for in-person dining due to city regulations and restrictions. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, outdoor dining setups offered more than just the opportunity for fresh air and people watching — they provided an economic lifeline for struggling eateries, and a way for diners to enjoy a meal at their beloved restaurants.”
“I do remember at a certain point (during the pandemic), I was like, ‘We should’ve been doing this a long time ago,’” Greene said. “It’s one of those things where, you put people in a situation they maybe hadn’t thought about for whatever reason, then people really like it.”
“After the pandemic, we all feel like we need a little more space from each other, so we want to create that for people,” Wood said. “And we are three separate businesses sharing a co-op space, so, in the mornings up through lunch, Wakeman pretty much runs the whole taproom. So, it’s their coffee, full breakfast, full lunch, and we’ve been doing some brunch cocktails to support them on the weekends, then we transition into a brewery-slash-tacoria.”
“We built the building to accommodate outdoor seating and our highest volume is with our outdoor seating,” Rubin said. “We felt that people would appreciate it. Pre-COVID, that was our plan and, post-COVID, it just worked. So, it was not pandemic inspired, it was just inspired by being outdoors and appreciating upstate New York.”
“The rub with the deck is the weather, so what we try to do is gauge the weather,” Carrington said. “Given the fact that we generally double our seating in summer, it does present challenges for the kitchen. Post-COVID, we have had some challenges with staffing, just to get back to required staffing levels, but it is really a joy to be able to offer such a unique venue outside.
“I think, like many things, the pandemic accelerated the rate of change, or the adoption of things like outdoor eating,” he continued. “However, I think it’s also part of a general movement to experiential dining or just being in the elements.”
Sources said such appreciation for time spent in nature is what’s kept customers keen.
“I was down in Virginia, in Charlottesville, and we went downtown and they call it the mall, but it’s similar to Burlington, Vermont and I’m attracted to these small communities that have outdoor spaces like that, kind of like Ithaca, where they close down the entire main street and allow all these restaurants and business to move outdoors,” Wood said. “Oneonta doesn’t have that — I’d love them to — but it is really important for people to just feel that connection to nature. And it allows families to spread out and not necessarily feel like they’re belly up to a bar with their kids, so we’re very inclusive.”
“(Customers) compliment how beautiful the skies are and the landscape around,” Rubin said. “We have hydrangea gardens around the patio in the back and they can see the scape of the mountains past (Interstate) 88 off the back patio, and the front patio has a nice fluidity if you like to people-watch, so they just enjoy being there. We just like to be outdoors the most we can; if the weather is nice, we are typically outdoors, so we try to (offer it) year-round and make it the best and most comfortable we can.
“We go by the seat of our pants and go with the vibe of what the area might like,” she continued. “It’s nice to be able to tap in to the tourists, but also the locals, and make it a place that everybody can feel is theirs. Our goal is to give people a sense of community. We did extend our hours this year for spring and summer, so we are open until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and we did that with the intention that people are wanting to be outside in the evening hours during dusk. We did that to accommodate requests and we rolled it out in March and are going to keep it through September.”
“Definitely it’s been from COVID on,” Greene said. “It was somewhat mandated at the time, but it made a lot of sense, actually. A lot of times, when it’s busy, people will gravitate toward the outside and, slowly, we have to accommodate inside as a second choice.
“We always had the awning, but to put five or six more tables on the lawn was something we just hadn’t thought about,” he continued. “We did it at the time and after, it was like, ‘Why didn’t we just do this?’ Everybody loves it and they prefer it. We only have a limited amount of space, so we want to accommodate as much as we can outside. It was an organic thing — a happy accident kind of thing — and there was never a point after the pandemic that people were trying to get back inside. If it’s available, people prefer to be outside.”
Outdoor eating at the Tulip & the Rose, Greene said, is open anytime customers choose it. The restaurant offers dinner from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and brunch during the week from 11 to 5, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 to 5, Saturday and Sunday. The Tulip & the Rose offers a rotating menu and is launching an expanded espresso menu.
“I think our regulars look forward to it and travelers are really happy to find it,” Carrington said. “The deck is such a unique thing — it’s a rooftop, but it’s also a back deck, and it’s tucked between all the brick buildings and looks out over the mountains, so it’s a really unique space. In 2017, when we remodeled the Autumn’s interior and exterior, we added the outdoor bar and small kitchen to the deck. COVID really put a damper on that … but we’re really excited to open that up full-scale again this summer. We expect to have some unique events and opportunities, as well as special daily offerings at the (outdoor) bar to engage customers in that space.
“We’re getting more active outdoor enthusiasts, whereas, before, white tablecloths and inside dining experiences dominated restaurants for a long time,” he continued. “So, fast casual has certainly changed the way people think about eating food. Also, the idea that we offer fresh, scratch, uncomplicated food in an outdoor environment is a nice combination.”