Posted4/15/2021 6:00 AM
Once upon a time back in 2019 outdoor dining in suburban towns meant sipping your soup on a restaurant s patio or huddling over a tiny two-top on a sidewalk out front.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and town officials and businesses moved with warp speed to figure out ways to move things outside, so their restaurants and pubs could survive state restrictions that shut down or limited indoor dining.
And the efforts worked so well, many are setting up al fresco dining areas again, even as restrictions have loosened. It ended up being great with all the different programming that went on, said Beth Walker, executive director of Batavia MainStreet, where the city closed off North River Street downtown.