Parklets in Richmond District Gives Hope to Businesses
By: Gui Oliveira
Tags: Restaurant Business, San Francisco, Local Business, Outdoor Dining, Richmond District

Disclaimer: This story was written before the latest red tier restrictions.

Over the last several months business owners all over the Richmond District have taken the initiative to build, in one form or another, an outside dining space as a means to keep their doors open. Many of these outdoor dining spaces have become a trend among residents who still enjoy going out to eat, and since indoor dining was again recently shutdown outdoor dining remains an option for people aside from delivery and takeout.

“On March 16 when they shut everything down we just basically had to shut all indoor stuff down and figure out what we were gonna do on the outside so I contacted a company and we got some metal barriers outdoors within a couple weeks after Covid so that’s how we got started initially” says Albert Lara owner of Chomp N’ Swig on Geary Blvd. Without wanting to “waste a lot of money,” Lara erected a basic form of a parklet by putting metal barriers, wine barrels, and chairs out in front of his restaurant and it worked out great for a few months. But it wasn’t until he saw Ireland 32 build their actual parklet that he filled out the paperwork to obtain a permit to officially build a parklet.

“We have more stuff that we’re building but it’s been a savior. It helped our business stay afloat. People really love it. Without the parklet, people would just be drinking on the sidewalk and it would probably be too congested for the sidewalk so that extra space out there makes a huge difference for us” Lara says.

According to SF public works website, the application fee for a permit is $306. This does not include the SFMTA processing or meter removal fee. The initial permit must also be renewed annually. The permit approval process takes 2 to 6 months and successful permits must pass certain conditions.

“I remember there were provisional things given initially right but it definitely took the City a little bit to start processing all the requests but once they did everything kind of just sprung up you know. So as soon as they pretty much assigned someone like hey we need to go through all this somebody just knocked all that out. But it did take a little bit just to get their attention about it. And then it picked up steam and they started giving everybody the permits” said Suket Mahal, bar manager at the Richmond Republic Draught House on Clement St Inner Richmond.

The Richmond Republic Draught House were one of the first businesses in the Richmond District to utilize an outside dining space. They’ve been open for outside dining going back to at least July when their permit got approved and have since gained popularity among their customers.

“I mean we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback over here so I’m definitely all about it, I love it and I wanna keep it going especially for the customers and regulars. The community has been fantastic so I’m all for it” Mahal says.

However, these parklets have sprung up arguably due to a strong necessity to keep shop fronts open amid the pandemic. Once things begin to “normalize” will there be less of a demand for parklets? A good indication that outside dining will remain prevalent into 2021 and so forth is felt in the community among customers and owners who seem to agree that they’ll exist in the long run.

Local Richmond resident Rick Kelly hopes that the parklets “stays permanent” on a long term basis. ”On the weekend I’ll go down to Eat Americana and get a burger and fries there’s quite a few good restaurants down there on Balboa St. Even in the Richmond there’s still plenty of places to go eat” states Kelly.

Johnny Luther, who doesn’t live in the neighborhood but visits frequently, states “I haven’t eaten at a parklet for dining” but adds “something that was really lacking in San Francisco was street side dining. Some places had it like North Beach a little bit. Yeah my personal opinion is that some people do enjoy sitting out and enjoying a meal.”

In other parts of San Francisco outside dining has become so trendy that some streets are closed off to vehicles allowing people to freely gather on the street and sidewalks. Moreover, the climate in San Francisco usually allows for street side dining with some restaurants putting heat lamps outside and others building full on walls to guard against the wind.

“I actually feel very strongly that having outdoor spaces and restaurants open actually kind of alleviate the social anxiety and pressure people have. If all this stuff were to shutdown tonight I think that it’ll only force more people to be indoors with other parties and larger parties and that will contribute more to case counts’’ says Mahal.