Restaurants with patios are back open for diners in Massachusetts.
Joe and Terry Brill have dined out at the Fowler House Cafe in downtown Quincy for 40 years, but Monday’s lunch was one for the scrapbook.
“It’s actually turning into an interesting adventure,” said Terry, a longtime regular at Fowler House, who dined under an umbrella in the back parking lot.
The restaurant is one of many across the commonwealth that doesn’t have a true outdoor dining space. Step one of Phase 2 in the state’s reopening plan only permits sit-down service outside, leaving out 80% of Bay State eateries, according to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
But the city of Quincy moved quickly to let those restaurants apply to temporarily convert existing outdoor space into patios.
Owner of Fowler House Cafe Bill Rizzotti applied online to convert his restaurant’s parking lot into an oasis from pandemic cooking doldrums.
