The fatal crash on the patio of Park Tavern last month dredged up unpleasant memories for Jeff Kaster, who owns a downtown St. Paul restaurant that’s been hit by vehicles more than once.
“The whole world is so crazy right now. You never know when this stuff is going to happen,” said Kaster, who owns Bulldog Lowertown.
Following what happened at Park Tavern, which left two people dead, Kaster said he’s thinking about adding new protective measures beyond the metal planter boxes that separate his restaurant’s sidewalk seating from the adjacent street.
An SUV plowed into the Park Tavern’s outdoor seating area Sept. 1, killing a restaurant employee and a man who was sitting with a group of co-workers. Nine others were injured. Steven Frane Bailey is facing murder and drunken-driving charges. He has been granted conditional release as his case moves through the courts.
The tragedy reverberated across the Twin Cities, where weather squeezes the number of days a meal can be enjoyed free from brick and mortar on four sides. And, while drivers slamming into a restaurant’s outside seating remains a rare occurrence, the Park Tavern tragedy wasn’t even the latest reminder that there is risk: Just three weeks later, a driver suspected to be under the influence of opioids crashed into the patio at Clive’s Roadhouse in Blaine.
Regulatory protections for outdoor dining vary widely across the metro, and among restaurant owners. Interviews with city officials in Minneapolis, St. Paul and some suburbs found no specific requirements such as distance between tables and streets or parking lots, or protective barriers to separate diners from asphalt.
Still, some cities require different levels of regulation. In Minneapolis, eating and drinking establishments must submit plans to the city for where they place patios as a licensing requirement, said city spokeswoman Jessica Olstad.
Patios closest to traffic, namely sidewalk cafes, “require a secondary license which submits a seating plan and has insurance requirements,” she said.