Robin Shepard
Recent warm weather meant more patrons at the patio at Vintage Brewing Co. on East Washington Avenue.
Spring has sprung and just in time. Warm weather in early March drew many people to outdoor patios at taverns and brewpubs for the first time in several months.
But Parched Eagle co-owner and brewmaster Jim Goronson credits the die-hard regulars who braved freezing temperatures in January and February with helping his business survive. “It saved us. We hit a low point, but we’re coming back,” says Goronson. Once the warm weather hit, “our customer numbers exploded.” (Note, the Parched Eagle’s patio will be closed this week until Saturday, March 27, due to Goronson recuperating from knee surgery.)
Patios with heaters, tents, firepits and plastic pods helped business during the winter of COVID-19 restrictions that limited or prevented indoor dining and drinking, but loyal customers might have been the most crucial element for bars and taphouses. There are no heaters, pods or firepits to be found in a social media post from late February showing hardy patrons of The Malt House drinking on its patio during a snowstorm — the photo drives home these loyal customers’ desire to support the business.
Trent Kramer, one of the co-owners of Vintage Brewing Company, says Vintage was “fortunate that all our locations have patios, and even in the winter I don’t think there was a day that we didn’t have at least one table occupied outside,” he says. “[Patios] were invaluable and without them we would not have survived, even with the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) funding.” Now that the weather is warmer, Vintage patios are going “full swing,” Kramer says.
Although new orders from Public Health Madison and Dane County that went into effect March 18 have increased indoor dining and drinking at restaurants to 50 percent capacity and allowed taverns without food service to serve alcohol indoors at 25 percent capacity, practically speaking the six-feet-between-tables rule means capacity is actually below that in many cases. Kramer says that customers are still cautious about indoor service, too: “Some of our customers just feel safer in an outside setting right now.”
C.J. Hall, co-owner of Full Mile Beer Company in Sun Prairie, closed his patio in January and February, but opened it back up about two weeks ago. “More vaccine, more daylight, better weather and now getting the patios open, all definitely helps,” Hall says.
Ale Asylum closed its expansive patio for winter and has been doing contactless pickup of beers on Fridays and Saturdays only. Co-owner Hathaway Dilba says that although customers embraced the patio last fall, even in colder weather, Ale Asylum staff decided against heaters — “they don’t give as much heat as you want,” says Dilba, especially in a larger outdoor space like Ale Asylum’s.
Before they reopen the patio this spring, they are making “little enhancements” to the patio, like better lighting: “We got so many calls last weekend from people saying they just wanted to come by the patio and have one beer,” Dilba says. Although the plan is to reopen the patio and start offering limited dine-in by mid-April, Dilba says that brewery co-owner Otto Dilba “might entertain opening the patio earlier,” without food, if the weather stays warm and the calls keep coming.
Beer gardens will soon follow suit with outside bar service and seating, including Capital Brewery in Middleton on April 6 and Wisconsin Brewing Company in Verona on April 9. Tyranena Brewing in Lake Mills, which has been serving in its beer garden all winter, plans to kick off its outdoor music season on Saturday, April 17.
