Unity, culture on display A member of the Berkshire Black Economic Council provides thoughts on what this summer’s “I Am Afro” street fair meant to those in attendance. Page 4.
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Berkshire Business Journal SEPTEMBER 2023 I VOL. 2, NO. 9
Dining al fresco
SAM BREWER
A sea of tents fills Railroad Street in Great Barrington when patrons dine out there on weekend summer nights.
Originally begun by necessity during the pandemic, outdoor dining has now become a staple at many Berkshire restaurants BY LUKE CHINMAN WILLIAMSTOWN — Before the COVID-19 pan-
demic, Coyote Flaco, a Mexican restaurant in Williamstown, had only six tables for patrons to eat outside. Over three years later, that number has grown to 24. Outdoor dining has become a classic feature of this eatery on Cold Spring Road. In the early months of the pandemic, employees of Coyote Flaco brought their own patio furniture to the restaurant to expand the space — which was formerly a parking lot — into a bigger dining area. “We spent our days off fixing it up — gardening, hanging up lights, buying really big potted plants,” said owner Galo Lopez. Now Coyote Flaco’s outdoor space — once a lifeline for the restaurant when state regulations limited the capacity of indoor dining rooms — remains busy and
is often filled on summer nights when the weather is nice. As early as April, Lopez said, the restaurant received requests to open their patio for the season, especially by immunocompromised customers who still feel uncomfortable dining indoors. And even when temperatures drop into the winter months, Coyote Flaco servers will bundle up and tend to fire pits to keep the outdoor space open as late into the season as possible. “Our patio had always been pretty popular before the pandemic, but it’s definitely way more now,” Lopez said. “Our whole business model in the summer has changed to accommodate more tables outside.” The same is true for many restaurants across Berkshire County: Despite the end of pandemic-era restrictions on dining, outdoor dining has transformed
the restaurant landscape. Take The Firehouse Café & Bistro in Adams, which had a patio before the onset of the pandemic. Now the outdoor space is more popular than it has ever been, said owner Xavier Jones. “People will call about outdoor seating asking to sit outside,” he said. The restaurant even needed to add another server to account for demand. At Electra’s Cafe in Lenox, outdoor dining continues to mitigate losses that have lingered from the pandemic, even after restrictions have been lifted. Before the pandemic, the restaurant served three meals a day, but owner Peter Lepotakis said that staffing shortages forced them to reduce the hours and Electra’s is now open only for breakfast and lunch. During the pandemic, however, the
restaurant added four tables and a tent, on a patio built on a parking lot in front of the restaurant’s entrance. That increased the eatery’s dining capacity from roughly 40 to 50 seats. Now, even with shorter hours, Electra’s Cafe can serve more patrons when open. “My sales are not going to be what they were when I was open for dinner, but they’re closer than they would’ve been if I didn’t have the outdoor seating,” Lepotakis said. A new interest in dining outside has continued to influence restaurant owners, some of whom are reimagining what their dining spaces should look like. This was a primary topic for Bo Peabody, who co-owns Mezze Bistro & Bar in Williamstown with Nancy Thomas. The partners recently opened another OUTDOOR DINING, Page 14