The outdoor dining game: precarious, unpredictable and probably not sustainable

ROCHESTER - Early Tuesday afternoon found Rochester residents Natasha Hughes and Paula Menz sipping on beers while enjoying a light lunch at Rochester's La Corona restaurant.

They both said Gov. Sununu's and the Reopening Task Force's decision to allow outdoor dining in the state was a great move since the two of them enjoy going out to eat regularly.

"Oh we are so happy that they did that," Hughes said emphatically.

But for Jose Lopez of La Corona, the move to outdoor dining, while appreciated, is never going to cut it on a bottom line basis.

Lopez said they didn't open till May 23, a Saturday, and it was slow but picked up a little the next day.

"The first week they came more during the day, they'd get chips and salsa and a drink," he said. "They don't stay late."

He said when it's cool or rainy they get little business, and when it's nice out they can only seat 60 tops, while they have 120 chairs inside, all empty.

Lopez said that if Gov. Sununu allows restaurants 40 percent capacity with the outdoor seating, it still wouldn't be as good as it was before, but it would be doable, at least for now.

But he fears they'd lose more money when the summer really hits.

"When it's hot in July people will not want to be sitting outside in the sun," he said. "They want to go inside."

Even so, being forced to do outdoor dining has been a cloud with a silver lining.

"People love the outdoor patio here," he said. "We'll be keeping this permanent."

Meanwhile, Tim Haley, co-owner of Wild Willy's Burgers, said he had about 10 tables set up in the parking lot just east of his dining room.

He said this past weekend was busy, but with just 10 tables it's not the way it was by far.

And while they have a large sized dining room inside, going down to just 40 percent capacity is not going to leave many active tables.

"I don't know how many I'd be able to have," he said, "but it will drop the number down a lot. I think it would knock out 75 percent of my tables."

Gov. Sununu on Monday hinted that they are working hard on trying to phase back indoor dining in the "near future," perhaps using the 40 percent capacity limit that has been put forth as guidance for churches.

But both restaurateurs are skeptical that such limited indoor capacity - especially in northern New England - will ever be made to fit into a viable business model.