A brewery in Pico Rivera, is thinking outside the box by opening up a very large one to accommodate their guests with outdoor seating options as the cold weather approaches.
“It’s almost as if we’ve flipped the brewery inside out,” co-founder and President of Brewjeria, Augustin Ruelas said.
Brewjeria in Pico Rivera will now be able to serve its craft beers outside, using this converted shipping container.
“It’s definitely going to help. This is going to add new seats, and we’re using our sidewalk as well for seating,” Ruelas said.
Like all bars and restaurants, Brewjeria has struggled to stay in business during the pandemic and the battle will get even tougher as the weather gets colder.
“The reality is even with heaters, even with a tent, do people want to come and eat in the cold?” co-owner of Cocinas y Calaveras, Jesse Gomez said.
Restaurant owner Jesse Gomez is hoping the answer is yes, which is why he spent a whole day setting up a large tent in the Mercado parking lot on Cahuenga Blvd. West.
“Just making it look comfortable, trying to make it so you don’t realize you’re sitting in a parking lot having really good Mexican food,” stated Gomez.
Despite the expanded outdoor seating, it’s still only about half the capacity Mercado would have inside.
Indoor dining is a long way off considering the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise, so Gomez and other restaurant owners are hoping people will continue to support them, whether it’s by dining outside, ordering take out, or buying gift cards.
“I think about one or two of my restaurants closing down in the near future and I don’t want that to happen. I’ll do whatever I can but it’s just a stark reality that we are all facing, so do what you can to help us out and to help everybody out there,” Gomez said.
