DENVER — It's a great time to be a Denver sports fan with the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche both heading to the playoffs. That will likely bring big business for bars and restaurants in Denver as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic.
The City of Denver is using this opportunity to let bars and restaurants know about expanded patio permits and other programs.
For the South Broadway Country Club on Tennyson, expanding their patio into the parking lot for the 2023 Masters golf tournament proved to be a hole in one.
“We just wanted to throw a huge party,” said Chad George, operations director for South Broadway Country Club. “We rolled the dice that the weather would be nice, and it turned out to be perfect. We had a 12-foot LED TV screen in the parking lot here that was almost like eye-level for the people upstairs.”
A nice approach to boosting business.
“Absolutely,” George said. “Being able to add that space, whether a parking lot or extensions into the street, made a huge difference for a lot of places the past few years.”
Denver is now working on expanding and perfecting two patio expansion programs.
One would make temporary pandemic patios on sidewalks and street curbs permanent for both below and above curb patios.
“I mean, the goal is that outdoor dining here in Denver is here to stay,” said Jay Decker, manager of the Office of Innovation at the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI). “It’s really helping our food and beverage industry recover. I think what we learned during the pandemic is that our streets are more than just for people in cars. Really, what we’re talking about is just carving small spaces out for people to sit and dine, to maybe enjoy a weekend event that really don’t cause too many complications for people moving around and commuting, but really improve our community and get people out and active downtown and other places.”
The city will also continue its program that allowed temporary modification of parking and private lots for events like the Masters and Nuggets and Avalanche playoff games.
“Now the regulations are a little bit looser for food and beverage or event space, as well,” Decker said. “For concerts, for events.”
The city says it has roughly 100 applications for those spaces — down from 300 at the height of the pandemic — but still a huge number, which officials hope will grow.
“Yeah, they’re here to stay,” Decker said.
The payoff for businesses can be huge. It’s estimated that expanded patios in Denver help to boost restaurant and bar revenues by an average of 18%, according to DOTI.
“We look at revenue per seat,” George said. “How much can we generate a day, a week, a month, a year on that seat?”
George says as long as the fees stay low, these programs are a win. DOTI says the fee for an above curb outdoor places permit is $600 for 2023.
“I don’t want to say (restaurants and bars) are still struggling because of COVID, but we’re struggling because of food costs, and labor costs and just the environment we’re in — in a business where margins are really slim," George said. "Every seat we have access to can make a huge difference.”
Businesses need to apply for above curb patio permits by April 30. Denver has a list of requirements on its website.
Businesses with temporary patio permits can keep their patios this year, as well.
The city hopes to have a permanent plan for outdoor dining in place later this summer.
