MINNESOTA, USA — Patio season is a whole vibe in Minnesota during the spring, summer and fall months, but would you have ever imagined patio season hype being a thing during the winter months?
"Would I have imagined it this year? Absolutely," said Bob Tinsley, the owner of Bacio Restaurant in Minnetonka.
It's a year when many restaurants, bars and breweries have had to reinvent themselves time and time again in order to survive the setbacks of COVID-19.
"We've had to make so many different changes, and as many thing as we can try to work we try it," said Tinsley. "We'll have the propane heaters, and we've ordered some thermo mugs."
With a new set of restrictions in place allowing outdoor dining at 50% capacity, with no more than 100 people, in a properly vented outdoor area, restaurant owners like Tinsley are making it work to keep the business afloat and the remaining hours of 2020 happy.
"We're calling it happy hour hotties and its hot drinks," said Tinsley.
In Golden Valley, tap room owner Lori Ertl sees this outdoor opportunity as a last resort to survive, bringing with it many sacrifices.
"I have to make it survive, this is my passion," said Ertl. "We have to go buy heaters and stuff like that so how do you do that when you're financially already down."
Though the outdoors may not be ideal for a bold north winter, for these business owners they just hope the patio season hype pays off big this time around.
"Hopefully the public will come in and help support us and keep us going," said Ertl.
"We go to University of Minnesota football games, we're outside five, six hours at a time doing that, I think we can get it done," said Tinsley.
For anyone looking to partake in the outdoor dining experience, many business owners say you should call ahead to make a reservation due to the capacity limits.
This new order is set to expire January 11th.