Wintry weather puts freeze on outdoor dining

DEDHAM, Mass. — Friday may have been a winter wonderland for hardware stores, and plow drivers, but not for restaurants looking to squeeze every last moment of outdoor seating.

At the 50′s Diner in Dedham, owner Spero Deamantopoulos said outdoor seats were set up in June as soon as town approval could be obtained and has been a boost, especially with limited seating indoors.

“Every week that went by, we had decent weather we were like we got another week out of it we got another week, good,” Deamantopoulos said.

Outside, he has two rows of picnic tables, some covered in snow, none in use Friday. Inside, plexiglass dividers, socially distanced seating, and masks worn by staff members.

“Hopefully the weather (will be) getting better this weekend,” said Bob Meighan, a regular who prefers outdoor seats.

In Canton, owners of C.F. McCarthy’s showed Boston 25 News their three heat lamps for the patio next to their restaurant.

“We’re hoping we can get the whole area dried off and get the heat lamps cranked,” said co-owner Steve Carey.

At 4 and 6: A Canton restaurant has heat lamps activated, in Dedham a diner can’t seat people outdoors thanks to the snow. How COVID-19 restrictions and Mother Nature are putting the squeeze on local eateries @boston25 pic.twitter.com/TRGFJxYZRL
— Evan White (@EvanWhiteIII) October 30, 2020

The restaurant opened in April of 2019, and had to shut down once. With rising COVID-19 cases throughout the Commonwealth, they are worried further state restrictions may return just as the business is beginning to recover from closing, months ago.

“We can’t afford to just shut down again,” said Gilmar Cassiano, co-owner.

For the past seven days, over 1,000 positive COVID-19 cases were reported, according to the Dashboard of Public Health Indicators from the State Department of Public Health.

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