Naperville restaurant gets creative in order to keep business afloat
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - You have seen bubbles and space heaters – but nothing quite like this.
A restaurant in Naperville is trying to get creative in order to entice customers to dine outside this winter.
Features Bar and Grill has been a staple in downtown Naperville for nearly 40 years, and like other food establishments during COVID-19, business dropped significantly.
The owner says carry-out orders during the summer were barely enough to get by.
“Ya gotta go deep sometimes to bring it back, so I might as well give it one last effort,” said Riff Menza, the owner of Features.
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As a patron, you can now look forward to refurbished rail cars parked right outside.
They will service up to eight tables at a time, and the tables are separated by Plexiglas, with ventilation and heating inside the cars.
“They were designed using a planning and zoning team and architects on staff, [to] make sure they meet all city codes," said Christine Jeffries of Naperville Development Partnership.
DuPage County has seen nearly 53,000 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. Will County has had almost 44,000 cases.
One customer says the rail cars are an investment into the community, which will hopefully make folks feel safe.
“I think it’s gonna be great, [it will] be able to draw customers to help business and keep downtown Naperville going,” said Norbert Hessefort.