COLUMBUS, Ind. — As the days get shorter and the nights become colder, change is in the air for local restaurants.
Outdoor seating has been a godsend to many restaurants over the summer, as many customers felt more safe and comfortable dining outside as opposed to indoors.
Paul Heilbrunn, owner of Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth Pizza and Pasta, said outdoor seating has “dramatically impacted” his business and been a “savior” amid the pandemic.
In June, the city approved a request by a group of downtown restaurants, including Bucceto’s, to close the street from 4 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31 to allow for additional outdoor seating.
Tyler Hodge, co-founder and co-owner of Lucabe Coffee, said the community responded well to the change.
“It’s actually been really good to have a draw for downtown,” he said. “We set out, in the beginning, to not simply plead for people to come buy from restaurants downtown, but to make it an attraction, so to speak, something that would be desirable and enjoyable and create an atmosphere.”
Lucabe’s, in particular, has adjusted for these weekend evenings, adding later hours on Fridays and Saturdays and offering new dessert items. Hodge said that he hopes to continue both of these changes, though the night hours may need to be adjusted due to the days getting shorter and lower business traffic from 8 to 9 p.m.
Downtown restaurants are looking into requesting an extension for the Fourth Street closure but are also waiting to see how outdoor seating fares through the end of October.
During the summer, the city also approved a request from Fourth Street Bar and Grill to add additional seating on the sidewalk next to the restaurant’s patio. On Oct. 20, the board of works approved the restaurant’s request to continue that outdoor seating extension through the end of the year.
“We’ve had a number of customers tell us that they would still like to sit outside … that they would wear a jacket, they would bring a stadium blanket,” said Kurt Schwarze, the restaurant’s co-owner. “And we’ve told them, as long as we can continue serving outside, we will.”
For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
