Restaurants appeal to consumers with outdoor options

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The region’s restaurants hope the summer months bring more customers through their front doors — then out again to dine outside. Increasing gas, food and energy costs might slow overall consumer traffic, but outdoor seating is still a significant selling point for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor restaurants.

The option boosts business by as much as 60 percent when the weather cooperates, said Chris Wills, assistant manager at Tir Na Nog Irish Bar & Grill. “You’d think no one would want to sit out here when it’s hot, but tons of people still do.”

Baltimore City’s indoor smoking ban, installed in February, has increased business at Tir Na Nog, where smokers have plenty of outdoor space, Wills said.

Overall, $4-a-gallon gasoline and increasing food and energy prices are making consumers less likely to splurge on eating out. According to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index for May, 45 percent of owners reported a decline in customer traffic, while 33 percent reported an increase.

“Only 12 percent of restaurant operators expect economic conditions to improve in six months, the lowest level in the six-year history of the Restaurant Performance Index,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research and information services for the association.

Local owners and chefs, then, are banking on outdoor seating to up profits.

Sweet Lela’s Market Cafe opened in Towson at the end of May and includes outdoor seating for 20. Owner Antonio Iacampo said the cafe will do most of its dining-in business in the spring and summer months and rely on catering and carryout business in the winter months.

“It’s an open-air setting, but you can still smell coffee, paninis and desserts from inside,” Iacampo said.

J.R. Smith, executive chef at Big Kahuna Cantina at Harborplace, said business thrives during the warm months.

“We don’t do anything in the winter,” Smith said.

More restaurants in Baltimore City are planning for outdoor seating, said Douglas McCoach, director of the city’s planning department. In Harbor East, restaurants like James Joyce Irish Pub and RA Sushi opened with outside options.

“It’s a nationwide trend, and it’s happening here,” McCoach said. “That’s healthy and good for the city.”

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com