KC Outdoor dining grant applications open until August 16

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Starting Monday, Kansas City, Missouri restaurants have until Friday, Aug. 16 to apply for up to $15,000 to upgrade, expand or create outdoor seating.

It’s part of $200,000 allocated from the city’s Convention and Tourism Fund.

“Some restaurants won’t need $15,000, it may just be they’re going to upgrade their patio seating or chairs and make it more comfortable,” Missouri Restaurant Association CEO Buddy Lahl said. “Others may completely create an outdoor dining space so it leaves the opportunity for any restaurant that wants to take advantage of the city’s program.”

This program is the latest phase of what started as an emergency response to COVID limitations on restaurants.

“It was a necessity to survive,” La Bodega owner James Taylor said.

With COVID limitations gone, Taylor says outdoor seating remains as good business.

“Our business on the outside exploded because that’s where people wanted to be,” Taylor said.

He thinks a restaurant could increase its business by 30-40 percent with the right outdoor spot, as long as the restaurant’s kitchen and staff can adjust.

The application information packet shows a city has to be in Kansas City, Missouri, and have been in business for at least a year. Restaurants will have to explain what its outdoor space will look like, how much capacity it’ll add and how long it will be up for with a minimum time of six months every year.

The city is understanding that restaurants are kind of the backbone of Main Street and restaurants drive everything that happens around them,” Lahl said.

Taylor says restaurants can stretch the dollars by doing some of the work themselves, which is how he gradually built out La Bodega’s outdoor space. He says improvements like these can ultimately benefit everyone.

“Friendly competition is good,” Taylor said. “It just makes everyone work harder and, ‘that guy’s doing this, I’m going to do this.'”

You can find information to apply here.

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