Canadians love their patio season, so creating an outdoor winter dining experience is great for your bottom line. For a successful winter experience, you need to decide whether to make your patio a working winter space or whether creating something new is more your style. Using your existing patio With 49 per cent of full-service […]
By Megan Prevost By July, most restaurants are deep into their summer patio season. But are you making the most of your outdoor space? Having an outdoor seating option is a huge draw for any local restaurant and even more so when the patio itself has added features not found within the regular restaurant. Setting […]
New data from Yelp has shown that diners are returning to restaurants in droves, flocking to dining rooms in 2022 as the memory of heightened pandemic fears and restrictions fades. That has brought its own problems, though, as complaints about short-staffed restaurants have soared. The new state of the industry report found that customers have […]
Alberta just got more pup-friendly, as the provincial government has announced that dog-friendly patios no longer need approval from an Alberta Health Services inspector. Restaurants, bars, and coffee shops will be allowed to welcome dog owners to eat outdoors without any red tape. Previously, a foodservice business had to request authorization from AHS before allowing […]
It may not feel like it just yet, but patio season is on the way again. Programs like Toronto’s CaféTO and Vancouver’s own system will be underway again this spring made permanent in some major jurisdictions, and with hopes of a sustained reopening this time around, it could be a much-needed busy summer for those […]
The Vancouver patio program has been amended at short notice by the City following high-profile criticism from the foodservice and hospitality industry. The 2022 guidelines for summer patios at restaurants, bars, and breweries had come under fire from industry associations such as the BC Craft Brewers Guild and the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association. […]
Outdoor dining has been a lifesaver for many restaurants throughout the turmoil and the pain of the last two years of pandemic, and new data from Yelp suggests that around 18,000 businesses in the U.S. have newly listed outdoor dining as an attribute since the pandemic began. The total number of establishments listing outdoor dining […]
The City of Toronto has announced that it has opened registration for its extended 2022 CaféTO program and is now welcoming applications from restaurants and bars. Operators in the city who are interested in expanding their outdoor dining space into the curb lane and onto sidewalks can register and apply through a new streamlined online […]
The COVID-19 wheel keeps spinning and indoor dining is now greatly reduced or off the table entirely in numerous provinces across Canada. Earlier in the pandemic, outdoor dining was hailed as a saviour by many restaurants, and that applies to winter patios, not just warm-weather ones. The trouble, of course, is making that a comfortable […]
Toronto’s popular CaféTO program, a measure born out of the pandemic that allowed restaurant and bar patios to extend onto sidewalks and roadways, could become a permanent year-round initiative. The City of Toronto Executive Committee has approved a proposal supported by Mayor John Tory to make the program permanent through a “phased” approach and also waive […]
