NEW HAMPSHIRE’S FASTEST GROWING ONLINE NEWSPAPER

Restaurateurs, hungry for customers, think 'outside' the box to bring in some cash

Comment Print
Related Articles
Workers place 'old school' Jersey Barriers in front of Mitchell Hill BBQ on Thursday in advance of alfresco dining expected to reopen on Monday. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - Rochester's restaurateurs and city officials are ironing out final details on what alfresco dining in the city will look like on Monday when the governor's new reopening guidelines go into effect.

Under the guidelines restaurants can allow patrons to eat meals outside their establishments as long as they practice social distancing with no more than six at any one table.

Three restaurants that were approved for outside dining on Thursday include Granite Steak and Grill, the 110 Grill and Mitchell Hill Barbecue.

City Manager Blaine Cox said the Granite Steak and Grill has created a dining space in their back parking lot, while the 110 Grill already has an outside dining area adjacent to the restaurant.

With Mitchell Hill smack dab in a congested downtown, city officials have agreed to block off several of the parking spaces in front of their North Main Street eatery to allow several tables.

Cox said Jersey Barriers will be in placed along the dining area to ensure patron' safety from passing cars headed south on the one-way street.

Other restaurants that have submitted plans for the city health inspector and his team to review include Revolution, Curlies Comedy Club on Union Street, the Governor's Inn, the Garage and Lilac City Grille.

Governor's Inn and Garage co-owner Herman Ejarque said that come Monday the Governor's Inn will be open seven days a week, while the Garage will be open Tuesday through Sunday if the city approves the plan he submitted.

"We'll have four different seating areas at the two venues, where patrons will be able to enjoy a meal, a snack or an adult beverage," he said on Thursday. At least one of the venues will be under a tent to provide patrons shade from the sun.

But no live music, he said on Thursday. That's one thing that's not on the table, at least not yet.

Right now it looks like Monday is shaping up as a rainy day with highs in the low 50s, but with Rochester's appetite to get out and about and enjoy just a taste of normalcy, it could be raining customers, too.

Meanwhile in Concord, state health officials on Thursday announced 84 new positive test results, continuing high numbers that were expected since the state is now getting results from some 1,500 daily tests.

DHHS Chief Lori Shibinette said earlier this week that right now they're averaging about 5.5 percent positive cases a day, so 84 new cases is right in line with that. She said she expects that number - which is closely monitored as a key metric - should slowly trend downward in the coming weeks.

Some 14 of the new cases are residents of Strafford County. Three are under the age of 18. Four new hospitalized cases were also identified.

DHHS also announced one additional death, a Hillsborough County woman 60 or older.

DHHS on Thursday also issued the COVID-19 Weekly Summary Report for the week of May 11, available at: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/covid19/covid-weekly-report-05112020.pdf.

More NH COVID numbers

NH Persons with COVID-19 3,382

Recovered 1,247 (37%)

Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 151 (4%)

Total Current COVID-19 Cases 1,984

Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 330 (10%)

Current Hospitalizations 115

Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 3,425

Read more from:
Top Stories
Tags:
None
Share:
Comment Print
Powered by Bondware
News Publishing Software

The browser you are using is outdated!

You may not be getting all you can out of your browsing experience
and may be open to security risks!

Consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser or choose on below: