Columbus makes COVID-era outdoor dining program permanent

On Mar 14, 2022

Wolf's Ridge Brewing's patio in the alley brought it vastly better sales in 2020.

The city of Columbus has announced that its COVID-era outdoor dining pilot program has been made permanent, effective March 14.

The program, which allowed restaurants to use the right-of-way for street dining during the COVID-19 pandemic, first launched in summer 2020 and has operated seasonally since.

Restaurants may apply for a city permit to expand seating into the street as well as private parking lots. The city provides barriers between cars and patrons.

Dining can spill onto streets where the speed limit is 30 mph or less and use no more than a quarter of the property’s parking spaces.

“The expanded space for restaurant guests adds vibrancy throughout our neighborhoods, keeps workers employed and helps generate additional sales for operators as they continue to rebound from the pandemic,” said John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, in a news release. “The association was happy to partner with city leadership to learn from a pilot program last year and now make it a permanent part of our city’s restaurant scene.”

“The city’s successful outdoor dining pilot supported our local restaurants as they fought through adversity the past two years,” said Mayor Andrew Ginther in the release. “Making this program permanent celebrates the industry’s resiliency and supports our local economy as our community gets back on track and patrons want to comfortably dine out.”

Bob Szuter, co-founder of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, has praised the program from the beginning.

He said the program was a huge help financially, spurring people to visit the Downtown restaurant and brewery.

“Things continue to be really difficult for the hospitality industry,” he said. “So having another avenue in which we can make money and try to climb out of the holes that we’ve all dug ourselves into or found ourselves, it’s really helpful.”

He told the Dispatch in 2021 that despite the program, on-premises business at the brewery was still down 30% to 40% from pre-pandemic levels. And Szuter said unfortunately, business right now may be worse, with staffing issues and coming out of a traditionally slower winter period.