by Suzanne Phan, KOMO News Reporter
SEATTLE — This weather is a litmus test for restaurants in Seattle struggling to stay afloat by expanded outdoor dining during the pandemic.
For a while, local restaurants were worried about wildfire smoke slowing business. Now, it’s the rain and colder weather.
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Downpouring rain across the region Wednesday meant puddles, ponding water, and plenty of people getting wet.
Nue in Capitol Hill is a global-themed restaurant focusing on international street food.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced them to expand and open up more outdoor seating.
“We can’t use the indoor space. We have a very small space and with the restrictions it's not safe and it’s not financially feasible either,” said Uyen Nguyen, Co-Owner of Nue.
They were the first one on the block to apply for the permit and that’s really helped them with their bottom line. They’ve been able to accommodate an extra 16 guests thanks to patio dining.
But now that wet weather has moved in, there are some questions and concerns for many restaurants.
“Yeah, most umbrellas don’t do much,” said Nguyen about the patio umbrellas she has that are more for the sun than heavy rain.
“We had to buy and invest in all these things. We got about two months use out of it and now we’re not sure what to do with it either,” said Nguyen.
Ada’s Technical Books and Café in Capitol Hill is addressing the outdoor dining issue.
They opened up their outdoor dining space three weeks ago and spent about $1,000 on equipment and labor.
With the first storm of autumn here, many businesses across the region are thinking about what’s next and how they can adapt with the changing seasons.
“It’s definitely harder, but it’s a litmus test for how we want to change the outside seating for the future, if we want to add more umbrellas, if we want to do something for the storms or the cold,” said Mar Maynard, General Manager of Ada’s Technical Books and Café.
Nationwide, nearly 100,000 restaurants have already closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. More closures are expected.
KOMO News talked to Owner Jack Timmons of Jack’s BBQ Tuesday about the hurdles local restaurants have had to deal with.
“Everyone in the restaurant industry is scared and they’re also tired. You feel like ‘how many battles do you have to fight before the war is over’,” said Timmons. “We had the COVID, then we had the closing of the restaurants, to-go only. Then we had the smoke. And now, fall is coming it’s going to start raining and get cold.”