Health

State working to help restaurants extend outdoor dining season

MEDFORD, Mass. — The state is working to help restaurants extend their outdoor dining season. Governor Charlie Baker held his news conference Thursday afternoon from a restaurant in Medford where the current grant program helped them open an outdoor patio.

Bistro 5 owner Vittorio Ettore remembers when a Medford city official stopping by earlier this summer to pitch opening an outdoor patio to help him expand his business during the pandemic.

“I was skeptical at first just because of the traffic and the trains and a lot going on the street. She inspired me to do a small patio and I have to say within 5 days I was able to do business outside," said Ettore.

>> Outdoor dining scene must adapt to changing seasons

Now he has tables lining the sidewalk, protective barriers for his customers, and a sidewalk area so people can still walk by.

The governor announced more grant money available to help restaurants pay for lighting, outdoor heating, and sturdier tents as the colder months move in.

“I’m starting to look at heat lamps and I work with the fire department to see what is allowed and what is right distance between heat lamps all that," said Ettore.

But even with that help, indoor dining may soon be the only option when winter arrives. We asked officials what rate of community spreading they are seeing inside restaurants.

Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn told us, “We are finding that traveling is the number one reason that people are testing positive for COVID-19. We haven’t seen any from dining experiences.”

>> Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants are still struggling to stay open

Baker told us he had his first indoor dining experience recently after a Marblehead restaurant had no tables outside.

“We went in and took a look around. First of all, there was plenty of separation and also there was plexiglass everywhere and we said okay and we sat down and had what we thought was an incredibly safe meal," said Baker.

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