New Hampshire Needs To Consider New Guidelines For Indoor Dining

I love New England’s can-do attitude. Restaurants have impressed me with their creativity in working with the pandemic restrictions but what is going to happen now that the weather is cooling down? According to reporting from Boston.com, N.H. restaurants will need to up their creative game if they are going to survive the winter. Outdoor dining may be optimal for summer, but those restaurants are going to take a hit once winter comes. And winter is coming.

State officials are working with The New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association on options for how to prepare for indoor dining. Some of the ideas floated are things like barriers between tables and reducing the distance between tables but you just can’t get around the fact that restaurants are designed to be filled to a certain capacity to make money. If that capacity is significantly reduced it will be a tough winter.

Mike Somers, The New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association president tells Boston.com, “Without some help here, I think indoor dining will not be enough to sustain many of our restaurants. We will entertain all ideas of how to move forward, but, in the end, we will exist or we will cease to exist. Every decision is on the table right now.” We as consumers need to make sure we are getting takeout to help support these businesses through what may be a tough time this winter. My heart goes out to the restaurant owners who have a passion for the business and wind up just breaking even due to the pandemic.