Igloos are back: Greater Columbus patrons can chill outside at local bars and restaurants
To adapt to the ever-changing landscape of providing hospitality during a pandemic, many bars and restaurants added igloos and other unique outdoor structures to their patios last winter. Turns out that trend is sticking around this chilly season, too.
Not only did the Winter Wonderland-esque additions allow venues to utilize outdoor spaces during the cooler months and make some patrons feel a bit safer dining out, but the igloos, greenhouses, heated tents and other cozy bungalows proved to be just plain fun.
The Outpost — a “glamping-style” canvas tent area full of Adirondack chairs, blankets and pillows that gives off an apres-ski vibe — at the Coast Wine House was initially built as a solution to the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, said owner Dustin Snow.
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The tent’s popularity with customers blew away the Dublin wine bar’s staff.
“It was a no-brainer to bring it back,” Snow said. “Truthfully, it ladders up to the philosophy of hospitality we have to create spaces to forget the stresses of life.”
December reservations for the Outpost, which rests in the small yard next to the Coast Wine House, were booked up almost immediately after the bar announced its return.
Igloos' ambience and unique experience a big selling point
With the omicron variant surging these past few weeks, the igloos and other structures still serve their practical purpose of allowing people to gather at a distance from strangers; however, it’s perhaps the feelings they elicit that have brought about their return.
That comfy, cozy feeling in a festive environment — usually with some twinkling lights and fuzzy blankets — can't be beat this time of year, not to mention the mental break it can provide some.
Most eateries that offered the service last winter are continuing to do so this year, while others have added it to the menu for the first time.
After seeing the success igloos had at establishments at Polaris Fashion Place, where she used to work, Mary Dimitrijeska suggested the Cherry Valley Hotel — her new employer — bring them to the site.
“We started the first week of December with four igloos in our garden area,” said Dimitrijeska, the marketing manager for the Newark hotel that opened in early 2020. “We’ve been sold out.”
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The hotel just opened up igloo service, which includes a $65 prix fixe menu, add-on cocktails and a locally made hot cocoa bomb, for Wednesday night reservations due to demand. Previously, it was only available Thursday through Saturday.
Dimitrijeska said the reason for the popularity is twofold.
“Part of it’s the igloo,” she continued. “The other part is friends gathering. Our setting with the gardens, the waterfalls, the pond and gazebo — it looks magical.”
The hotel’s igloos seat two to six people and only two reservations are offered per igloo per night to allow time for the staff to wipe down the surfaces and the space to air out for 30 minutes.
Not all igloo dining and imbibing is the same, however, with some more decorated and others more rustic, such as a simple greenhouse structure at a favorite restaurant.
And they can now be found throughout central Ohio, not just at a swanky rooftop bar. (Vaso in Dublin, for example, added the igloo experience before the pandemic even began.)
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Where you'll see igloos in Greater Columbus
They’re at eateries in Delaware, several places at the malls — Easton Town Center and Polaris — breweries and new Downtown bars.
The concept seemed like an ideal way to utilize the outdoor space at Lumin Sky Bar.
“We thought it would make a fun time for people, especially in this climate where it doesn’t seem like we can get out of the woods with COVID,” said Rustun Nichols, director of food and beverage at the Downtown bar and tapas kitchen that opened in June.
Its two igloos have a bungalow feel, Nichols continued, and are lit up with LED lights. Fur blankets, laundered between visits at the downstairs hotel, are thrown over the backs of seats.
Like at some other spots, there is a minimum that must be spent on food and drinks to book the igloos at Lumin, Nichols said, but that doesn’t deter people.
“People enjoy that exclusivity … other people notice it.” Nichols said.
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Ginny Pajor definitely noticed the igloos at Lumin as she works at the AC Hotel Columbus Downtown (the bar is on its eighth floor) as a sales coordinator and she thought it would be a fun family activity during the holidays.
Though it rained the December night she went with her mother, father, brother and two other relatives, she said that only added to the atmosphere.
“It sounded really cool with the rain on the igloo,” the 22-year-old Worthington resident said. “We had blankets on inside and it was super-cozy with the heater and pillows.”
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These igloos, tents and heated greenhouse might be more for the novelty this winter than for the safety, however.
Even though these spaces were originally created to provide safer dining experiences, experts aren’t sold on their efficacy, especially with the highly contagious omicron variant around.
With airborne viruses such as COVID-19, outdoor spaces provide the best airflow, whereas indoors have less of that, said Dr. Mark Herbert, an infectious disease specialist with Mount Carmel Medical Group. A small structure like an igloo, unless it has a fan or other airflow mechanisms, could provide an even less-than-ideal environment.
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“If there’s no airflow in a contained area, you’re exposing yourself to everything in that air not circulating,” Herbert said.
He recommends if patrons do choose to dine or drink in one of these locations that they do so only with members of their households.
“Being vaccinated and boosted decreases that risk, but once you get outside that, even with your closest group of friends, those variables are out of your control,” he continued. “You meet six or eight people in one of these tents … and you’re not doing yourself any favors.”
@AllisonAWard
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Restaurant igloos extend winter outdoor dining in Columbus
