Recordpub.com - Seeking outdoor space Downtown Kent businesses adding patios

By Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier staff writer

For Kent bar and restaurant owners, the sky's the limit. Literally.

Downtown pubs and eateries are beginning to recognize customers are looking for a breathe of fresh air to go with their subs and suds.

Businesses like the Water Street Tavern, Ray's Place, the Zephyr Pub and Riverside Wine and Imports are in the midst of expanding their options for customers with a unique, outdoor experience.

Mike Beder, owner of the Water Street Tavern, is planning to open a rooftop patio in late August over a space he is currently expanding into on South Water Street.

Beder said because the patio will be nestled between two brick buildings he wants to create an outdoor space similar to styles found in Philadelphia.

"Because it's nestled between the buildings, and its downtown, it will have more of a metropolitan, busier feel to it," Beder said. "With the weather nice people like to be outside, and the addition of the patio just offers customers an extra option."

Beder is unsure if he will permit smoking on the roof patio.

Just outside of historic downtown, Riverside Wine and Imports owner Bob Morson has created a more natural, park-like setting jutting out over the Cuyahoga River.

Morson's deck has seating for 142 people, nearly triple the 55 seats located inside the wine bar. For Morson, whose patio has only been open a week, the response has been nothing but positive.

"The response has just been phenomenal," Morson said. "People want to reserve it for parties. The beauty of the deck ... everyone just speaks (about) how wonderful and how nice it is."

The deck at Riverside provides customers with a view onto the raccoons, ducks and other wildlife surrounding the river and the trains rolling past on the CSX Transportation Inc. railroad tracks on the east bank. Morson's deck, like the wine bar, is completely smoke free.

But the deck has created some logistical problems. Morson is hiring people left and right to manage the expanded seating capacity, he said. And, he is in the process of demolishing a house two lots north of the bar to create more parking spaces to accomodate new customers.

"My goal is, by the end of June I'll have a parking lot there," Morson said.

Back in downtown, behind Water Street Tavern at Ray's Place, owner Charlie Thomas is planning to meet with city officials Tuesday to re-open talks for some kind of raised deck or patio at the bar.

"I don't know where or what that means," Thomas said.

Officials did not approve his initial request for a second-floor patio jutting out over the adjacent alley. Thomas is in the middle of a massive renovation effort on the first floor of Ray's, and he is unsure if he will try for a ground-level patio in the alley or to put a patio on the roof overlooking Heritage Park.

Nearly next door to Ray's Place, a sprawling two-level patio at the Zephyr Pub spans from Franklin Avenue to South Water Street and features a walk-up service window for Taco Tonto's. Owner Michael Tribuzzo recently applied for, and received, a permit from the city to construct a third-floor deck above the existing deck and patio.

Throughout Kent, numerous bars and restaurants have enclosed patio settings. Mug's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Club Khameleon, Starbucks Coffee, Susan's Coffee and Tea, Chipotle and the Franklin Square Deli offer outdoor seating. The deli sets up tables on the sidewalk throughout the summer months.

Rick Hawksley, a member of Kent City Council speaking as a design architect, said he would like to see more businesses take advantage of the outdoor experience.

"Even on a temporary basis," Hawksley said. "It contributes more to street life. Putting people in the public realm attracts people, vendors and entertainers."