Extending the patio program: Kitchener restaurants sound off

The City of Kitchener has extended its patio program until at least January 1, 2021.

The city is hoping this will help local businesses serve more customers during winter months, which would help keep them alive.

Whether those businesses will take advantage of the program remains to be seen, especially in the downtown core near City Hall.

Zeljko Loncar, affectionately known as “Zee,” owns 271West, and noted that the cold affects more than just the customer, even with patio heaters.

“The story about the patio heaters is very simple. Everybody says you can't find them anywhere. You can't purchase them, you can't buy them. Another side of that story is, even if that works, then we have to put our employees in and out. The temperatures in the range of zero to 10 degrees, that is okay, but if it's close to zero I don't think that is fair to employees.”

There's more than just cold weather to deal with when winter comes, as Canadians know. Snow on city streets eventually becomes slush, dirt and grime; something that Bruno Bolsinelli cites as a reason not to have sidewalk patios during the winter in the downtown core.

“Our patio is on the sidewalk,” said Bolsinelli, owner of La Cucina Pizzeria. “When the snow becomes slush, the cars drive through, they splash everything inside the patio because it's just beside the street. It doesn't work too much for Kitchener. For my place, and I don't know about other people, but for my place, it's not worth it.”

You also shouldn't expect a patio to show up at Two Goblets, whose owner cited the cold weather as a reason that patrons would not use a patio, even with heaters in place.

Ellison's Bistro is on the fence about the idea, it seems, as most of their business is from take-out.

“It's a consideration,” said Elvis Ellison, who also added his support for the patio program to continue next summer.

While the appetite for winter sidewalk patios appears thin, there are some exceptions.

The Crazy Canuck, for example, has a courtyard where guests can dine in downtown Kitchener.

“I was just in the BIA meeting yesterday,” said owner Liam Cameron. “There's talks of how to make that happen. We're looking at what Block 3 [Brewing] has done with domes, and seeing if we can replicate that. Nothing confirmed, but the interest is there. I was on the phone with Linda Yutzi, and she said, 'If we could get those domes, would you guys use them?' And we said 'of course, we'll do what we can with them.'”

Cameron explained that his outdoor dining area consistently has wind blowing through, which would make for a chilly dining setting in the winter months.

He's hoping the plastic domes will not only help with physical distancing, but shield patrons from the elements.

“I don't see patio heaters as being as beneficial as the domes,” Cameron said.