Outside Dining: How Good Is It?

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic people have been finding ways to go out and enjoy their time in the sun. This includes outside dining at restaurants vs the traditional inside dining of pre-COVID times.

Restaurants in Visalia and Tulare like Red Robin, Buffalo Wild Wings, Black Bear, and Applebee’s along with countless other restaurants are all offering outside dining tables as a second to takeout.

Outside seating only seems to be an option for restaurants that had exclusively inside dining pre-COVID as opposed to fast food places with drive-thrus and food or drink shops that don’t have a drive thru for a person to use.

Inside versus outside dining only looks different for restaurants that didn’t offer it before the pandemic. For example, Buffalo Wild Wings simply only offers their already outside seating open the already utilized. While those like Black Bear and multiple others put tables, tents, and chairs outside all spaced six feet apart to create a nice seating area for customers to enjoy their meals which is a noticeable change. 

Overall, this is a good idea to make people feel some version of normal during these crazy times, but I am not convinced that it is the safest idea. Also, with Valley weather recently making the first week of Fall still in the 90’s it doesn’t seem like the most comfortable of options either.

I am sure that these places take all of the precautions to make outside dining the cleanest and safest that it can be, so I might be convinced to go try it out if the weather was a little cooler, but right now a takeout dinner at home seems a lot more appealing to me than outside dining.

That being said, if neither of these things bother you and you want to have an outside dining meal then have at it. After all, that is what those setups are designed for and they’re most likely the closest you’ll get to a normal dining experience until the U.S. has COVID under control. 

As for me, I will gladly take a pass on the whole ordeal and eat my meal in my air-conditioned and COVID safe home or car.