If restaurant-goers are looking for another place to dine outside, Pike and Pint Grill will soon have a newly expanded, newly renovated outdoor patio – complete with a large gas fireplace, waterfall and two gas fire pits.
Seating in the new area is getting a boost also. The old outdoor area could seat about 30 while the new outdoor patio can seat up to 90, according to the owner of the Alexandria restaurant, Kent Kopp.
“We might add more seating in the future,” he said, noting that the outdoor area will also have its own outdoor bar, which will make it easier to serve guests.
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Kent said the new patio will be 60% covered by a roof and there are half walls to help with noise and wind.
The reason for the expansion and remodel, according to Kopp, was that he wanted the outside to match the newly renovated polished and casual inside.
“We wanted to warm it up a bit and make it comfortable,” he said, adding that he would love for customers to say it is the nicest patio in the area. “It may not be the biggest, but we really wanted it to be the nicest and to match our food and service. We wanted the feel of it all to match.”
The interior remodel project was completed May 1 with work on the patio project starting shortly after. The patio project is expected to be completed at the end of June.
Kopp said he worked with Tracy Gravning from Tracy Anderson Design for both the inside and the outside work and that she was wonderful to work with. He said he is also grateful and happy with the partnership he has with Innovative Builders.
“The owners (of Innovative) rolled the dice with us, especially during a tough time to build, but they believed in our vision,” said Kopp.
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He did note that from the time of the original estimate, costs did go up about 10%. But fortunately, he said there wasn’t much in the way of hiccups from a supply shortage standpoint.
The remodel of both the restaurant and the patio comes on the heels of the coronavirus pandemic. A time when restaurants were shut down for many months.
To his surprise, Kopp said compared to other years, his sales are currently up. He said take out hasn’t slowed down and with restaurants fully open now for some time, business has been going great.
“During our worst time, this community has been nothing but supportive,” said Kopp. “The community has really stepped up and supported us and others in this area. We are so blessed.”
