The Common saw a 20% increase in sales during Downtown Dining Week in March, a welcome boon heading into a summer that will see increased fees for patios.
"We saw a good uptick this year — I think it was one of the more successful years that we've had," said Kyla Kazeil, one of the owners of The Common, Dolly's Cocktails, and Fu's Repair Shop, all of which participated in the week from March 11 to 22.
The Common sold 75 of its $35 dinner features, Kazeil told Taproot, noting that the restaurant is not open for lunch, nor on Mondays and Tuesdays, so longer hours may have led to more purchases. Still, sales were up 20% on the whole.
Established restaurants such as The Common — which has operated on 109 Street since 2009 — have the most to gain from the initiative coordinated by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, Kazeil said. Fu's and Dolly's have more novelty than The Common, which can be taken for granted.
"It's been nice to help The Common stay relevant and have new features and market to people that maybe haven't tried it," Kazeil said. "I mean, it's hard being an established restaurant because there's always so many new places — and then for our group, we're all competing against ourselves."
Regardless of their vintage, there's a communal benefit for downtown restaurants during dining week, thanks to the marketing efforts of the EBDA and participants, Kazeil said.
"I think it just casts a wider net, where everybody is kind of sharing, so they're getting the visibility," she said. "When other restaurants are sharing dining week, … it has the power of a combined network."
March saw 79,000 visits to the Downtown Dining Week webpage, the EDBA's Quinn Phillips told Taproot, with more than $22,000 worth of downtown gift cards redeemed in that month compared with $6,700 in February and $7,400 in January.
As the days get longer and warmer, it's easier to attract customers than in the dead of winter. But Kazeil's restaurant group now faces new fees for patios on sidewalks or other public land. Her team is reducing The Common's patio footprint from 60 seats to 20 to avoid a $3,700 fee. The new configuration will incur a $500 fee instead.
The Common at 9910 109 Street NW has been in operation since 2009. (Supplied)
The city's new fee structure has no charge for a small patio whose tables and chairs are removed daily, as long as two metres of sidewalk clearance remains. It costs $500 for a partial sidewalk patio enclosed by a railing and with a two-metre clearance; more furniture can stay out overnight. The big fees are $3,700 seasonally or $6,900 annually for a patio that takes up the full sidewalk but has a board for pedestrians or a patio that extends onto the street.
Kazeil and her partners had long ago invested $10,000 in the boardwalk required for the larger option, which is now unnecessary for their patio to operate. Between sunk costs based on old rules, lockdown losses, inflation, and climate volatility, Kazeil said restaurants will have to make tough choices about what they spend their money on.
"What if it's a dry summer? What if it's smoky? What if it's raining?" Kazeil said. "There are so many variables, things that are outside of our control. It's such a wild card that it just becomes not worth it. That money can pay a grocery bill or pay benefits for our staff."
Phillips of the downtown business association had urged council to waive the fees ahead of a March 18 city council meeting. Ward tastawiyiniwak Coun. Karen Principe's motion to waive them was defeated 9-3, with councillors citing the fact that most patio-possessing restaurants had applied for permits again, notwithstanding the fees. The City of Calgary waived its seasonal patio fees for 2025 and 2026.
Kazeil said she may not go forward with a patio for Fu's this year. She and her partners would chip in on the $6,900 fee to share the large patio with the neighbouring Rocky Mountain Icehouse, but owner Wayne Jones has not told her if he plans to renew yet. Jones did not respond to Taproot's interview requests, though he previously told CBC he can't afford the added expense. Jones also owns the Cask & Barrel at 10041 104 Street NW, which has a patio that Kazeil said would face the $6,900 fee.
In better news for Kazeil, the patio at Dolly's next door to The Common is not on public land and is therefore exempt from the new fees. As well, she has noticed an uptick in traffic to The Common from provincial government workers who returned to work at downtown offices in February after a long period of working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The influx in the Legislature precinct has been so strong that The Common may bring back lunch service.
"Lunch used to be such a huge part of our business and our identity," Kazeil said. "Post-COVID, we opened for lunch again and ran it for about eight months. It just wasn't worth it, so we stopped."
Coming up, The Common's weekly cask parties aboard the High Level Bridge Streetcar return for the season on May 21.
Correction: This file has been updated to accurately reflect the value of downtown dining card redemptions in March and January.