This article was updated on July 14 to reflect an update on Bluewater Boathouse’s reopening.
Coronado restaurants have shown resiliency during these past few months of the pandemic, and continue to now as they march forward into this next partial shutdown after the county last week put a halt to indoor dining. The City of Coronado is helping local restaurants by allowing them to expand outdoor dining options so they can remain open and serve customers onsite.
Director of Community Development Rich Grunow said that the city has a straight-forward process for obtaining the necessary permits to expand seating. “We only require that business owners submit a no-fee application for temporary, expanded outdoor seating, which may be placed within sidewalk rights of way or in adjacent parking lots. Business owners need only to present a diagram of the seating area, demonstrate that they are replacing seating lost due to COVID-19 restrictions (not expanding), and that the outdoor seating would not obstruct legally required ADA paths of travel.” Applications for temporary outdoor seating can be found on the city’s website here.
Coronado MainStreet is working with restaurants and businesses to educate them if they have questions, and ensure compliance with the ever-changing County Public Health Orders. As patrons and diners, we should all remember to be understanding and considerate of restaurant personnel as they adapt to new procedures. The Coronado Chamber of Commerce is launching a third round of Restaurant Bingo and every restaurant on the island is included. The rules are simple ~ submit five restaurant or café receipts by August 7 to be eligible for a prize. Either place the receipts in an envelope with your contact details and mail to Coronado Chamber at 1125 Tenth St or email your entry to [email protected].
Several restaurants said that working with Associate Planner Marissa Smith, so they could quickly get additional outdoor seating placed on sidewalks and in parking lots, has been easy and she’s made the process simple. In addition to restaurants coming up with their own creative use of space, City Manager Blair King commented yesterday in his weekly update, “The City also is working on a special outdoor dining venue for the entire community. More information will be released once details have been worked out.”
In other restaurant news, for those who have been missing the Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill cuisine, they are planning to reopen the week of July 27. *
* Editor’s Note July 14, 2020: The Coronado Times was notified that Bluewater may not be opening the week of July 27. We will share the new date information when available.
