Why this week could be the start of a rough winter for Sacramento restaurants

Al fresco dining kept Sacramento-area restaurants afloat this spring and summer. As temperatures dip into the low 30s, al frigid seems like a more apt term for eating outside.

As temperatures drop and the prospect of rain looms over the coming weekend, rising coronavirus infection rates have forced Sacramento-area restaurants to scale back or eliminate indoor dining starting Friday. Takeout and delivery remain viable options for food that travels well, but outdoor dining amid cold weather remains the main recourse for many restaurants that rely on grills or deep fryers.

Hoppy Railyard Kitchen & Hopgarden could still seat up to 75 people inside at 25% occupancy before Sacramento County was demoted to the state’s purple tier Tuesday. After overnight temperatures in the mid-30s, owner Troy Paski bluntly laid out Sacramento’s dining landscape for the months to come.

“It’s going to suck, and there’s going to be a lot of places that don’t make it,” Paski said. “People don’t want to eat when it’s 40 degrees outside, and it costs money to keep them warm.”

Paski is considering adding tabletop heat lamps and investing in waterproof covers over Hoppy’s two patios, each of which has six tables. Doing so will cost about $10,000 in a year while not turning much of a profit.

Good equipment can be hard to find. East Sacramento burger spot The Shack solicited outdoor heaters from Facebook followers Wednesday due to a local shortage. Danny Vasquez, CEO of West Sacramento tent production company Made In The Shade, told FOX40 on Tuesday one of his salespeople missed nine calls while on a minute-long call with someone else.

Winter outdoor dining will be even more challenging in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Milestone Restaurant & Cocktail Bar in El Dorado Hills announced Monday it would remove its extended patio and try to keep guests on its main patio warm with fire pits and heat lamps.

‘It’s going to be a long winter’

El Dorado County reported 5.8 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people last week, its second consecutive week above the four-case threshold that prompts demotion to the red tier. Public health director Dr. Nancy Williams is petitioning through the state’s adjudication process to stay in the orange tier, citing the county’s relatively low positive test rate and health equity rate. El Dorado County will remain in the orange tier until the state rules on its adjudication next Tuesday.

A similar appeal was recently unsuccessful in Placer County, where new daily cases per 100,000 people rose from four to 8.7 throughout October. Now Placer County restaurateurs hope they can stave off demotion to the purple tier, the cutoff for which is supposed to be seven new daily cases per 100,000 people. Danielle Nelson, the owner of Dingus McGee’s Roadhouse in Auburn, is operating under the assumption the county will be demoted this winter.

“I feel like it’s inevitable that they’re going to shut us down again and turn us into purple, so we’re ramping up for that,” Nelson said. “We’re trying to figure out other things to keep us relevant.”

Those adjustments include weekday specials and converting the upstairs event space to a wholesale market with some grab-and-go prepared food. Last weekend made it clear busy weekends with outdoor-only dining weren’t going to be enough, Nelson said.

Dingus McGee’s mostly sat people on a 20-table back patio with a tin roof and wedding tent-style walls throughout the summer. But as evening temperatures dropped into the 40s last weekend, outdoor customers complained about the cold even with heaters on either side of their table, Nelson said.

Chilly air came in through the tent’s open sides, exposed to keep the propane tanks’ carbon monoxide from filling an enclosed space. Few wanted to sit outside, but so many wanted to eat at Dingus McGee’s 15 indoor tables that the wait staff was forced to turn people away and ask lagging parties to hurry up.

“It’s going to be a long winter,” Nelson said. “I’m really concerned with what this holds for the industry in general. Southern California is going to do better than we are, I think.”

COVID-19 spreads in gatherings, restaurants take a hit

While January and February’s murky weather keeps people from dining out in normal years, office parties and holiday get-togethers in November and December typically help restaurants accumulate the money to make it through those skim months, said Emily Baime Michaels, Midtown Association executive director.

The pandemic eliminated those celebrations and that source of income, but restaurants such as Hawks Public House, Zocalo and Good Vibes Vegan Cafe & Herbs have tried to adapt with family-sized Thanksgiving meal kits. Most of the bundles have enough food for two, four or six people as to not promote large gatherings.

According to Sacramento County data, COVID-19 has mostly spread through inter-household gatherings between families and friends, as well as Halloween parties and nursing homes.

Restaurants essentially functioning as bars, too, have been a problem, according to county health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control requires the purchase of a meal with the first drink but not for subsequent rounds.

Yet customers don’t go roaming maskless at most establishments, and sit-down restaurant meals don’t seem to have significantly contributed to the Sacramento area’s rising COVID-19 case rates. That makes the indoor dining shutdown particularly vexing, Baime Michaels said.

“These are businesses that have already been absolutely rocked this year ... and now they’re not (principal) sources of the spread, but they’re being closed as if they are,” Baime Michaels said. “Now with the cold weather and rain and outdoor-only seating, they have to deal with the expenses of tenting and heating and adapt to a new business model again.”

Midtown Association, Downtown Sacramento Partnership and R Street Partnership petitioned to the state this week for dine-in service to remain open despite the purple tier demotion. In an open letter, they warned of the future to come.

“As we creep into the winter months, it will be impossible for restaurants to survive purely on outdoor seating as the weather changes,” the letter read. “Using the health and safety standards put in place by state, local and industry leaders, we ask that restaurants, museums and fitness industries be afforded the opportunity to operate at a minimal indoor capacity in the purple tier.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 5:01 AM.