SPOKANE, Wash — Some Spokane area restaurants are now moving their dining outdoors as part of the Washington state’s new COVID-19 restrictions.
But this can be a challenging shift for some. Most local restaurants are just now starting to figure out how to provide outdoor dining, while also complying with new restrictions.
Outdoor dining guidelines include using a temporary structure with no more than two walls to allow for ventilation. There can be temporary structures with three walls as long as there is enough open space for ventilation.
Spokane Regional Health District Officer Frank Velazquez said in a press conference on Wednesday that businesses cannot just take indoor seating and put them outside. Ventilation is key.
“When you wall thing things off, you decrease that ability to circulate in fresh air,” Velazquez said. “That really goes against the principle of social distancing. And by that description it almost sounds like I just took the indoors and put it outside.”
This is not as easy as it sounds for businesses to make these adjustments.
KREM 2’s Amanda Roley went to True Legends in Liberty Lake on Wednesday where they just set up their tent and heated patio seating.
She pointed out to the managers that some of the tables were not spread out far enough. Their tent also had more than three walls up.
Later that afternoon, True Legends sent a photo of the changes they made. They took away some of the tables to make more space in the tent and took down the fourth tent wall completely.
Both Perry Street Brewery and Prohibition Gastro Pub also worked on setting up their outdoor dining Wednesday.
"We're going to make this work.,” Prohibition Gastro Pub manager Kas Haas said. “We're not going to let this bring us down."
Both will have heated lamps to keep guests warm.
Perry Street Brewery owner Ben Lukes said guests should think of it like your neighborhood ski lodge.
PHOTOS: Outdoor dining around Spokane
“Come in your puffy coats, get geared up," Lukes said. "We're going to have the freshest beer around and great food in the kitchen and just try and keep it going outside."
This is a big adjustment for local restaurants who last week had planned to serve people indoors for the holidays and football games.
As KREM 2 saw with True Legends, it is a work in progress to meet the new guidelines and keep their business open.