As the end of Chicago’s patio season approaches, restaurant leaders are urging local officials to take a cue from Northern European cities and Colorado ski towns to encourage outdoor seating even as the weather turns cold. Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said the trade group has been having conversations with the city and state about extending street closures and using tents, heaters, blankets and plastic domes to give restaurants more seating capacity as COVID-19 restrictions continue. “We have about six weeks,” Toia said Wednesday during a virtual speech to the City Club of Chicago. “We need to start thinking outside the box right now. … because we could be in this for the next six months and we want to be ahead of the curve.” Restaurants were devastated by the mandatory closure of dining rooms for more than three months, and about 5,000 Illinois eating and drinking establishments are expected to close permanently as a result, said Toia, based on estimates from the National Restaurant Association that put closures at 20% to 25%. They continue to suffer amid occupancy restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In Chicago, indoor dining is permitted at no more than 25% capacity. Outside of the city, state social distancing rules requiring 6 feet between tables typically means restaurants can’t be more than half full. Outdoor dining has been a saving grace for restaurants with the space for it, and the city has reduced sidewalk fees, streamlined the process for getting an outdoor seating permit and blocked off some streets to allow tables to be set up there. When the weather no longer cooperates, “we could really be in trouble,” Toia said. He urged local officials to take a page from Toronto, Paris and Colorado ski towns to make outdoor dining feasible into winter. The restaurant industry, which was Illinois’ largest private-sector employer pre-pandemic with nearly 600,000 workers, continues to suffer amid the restrictions and continued consumer wariness of spending much time in public. Though dining rooms were permitted to reopen in June, sales at restaurants remain 50% to 80% lower than last year, and 86% of restaurants say they don’t expect to turn a profit by the end of the year, Toia said. “Building consumer confidence back up is definitely a challenge,” Toia said. The Illinois Restaurant Association has called for another round of forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program after the first allocated just 8% of funds to the restaurant industry. The group also backs a federal bill to create a $120 billion relief fund that would provide grants to independent bars and restaurants that have been hurt by the pandemic. “We need a bailout from Washington, D.C., like they’ve done in the past for the airline industry, they’ve done for the banking industry, they’ve done for the auto industry,” Toia said. – Source: The Chicago Tribune.