Bringing in the great outdoors with retractable windows and air curtains boosted the grill & bar’s sales by 25-30%
Can air curtains help restaurants increase sales with open-air dining?
When owner Keith Wadle remodeled O’Toole’s Irish American Grill & Bar in Royal Oak, Michigan, he opened up the frontage with 46 feet of retractable glass walls and overhead doors. The goal was an outdoor dining feel without giving up indoor comfort. After the remodel, sales rose 25 to 30 percent.
Buyline Building Products engineered and installed seven Berner air curtains: five 72-inch Commercial High Performance units powder-coated in the pub’s Irish green, and two 96-inch Industrial Direct Drive units in custom bronze for the patio. Because the most popular seats sit right under the air curtains, Berner tuned the blowers for lower velocity so napkins and tips stay put while the opening stays protected.
The pub holds a steady 74°F with the doors open from May through September. The air curtains keep out insects, rain, heat, cold and vehicle exhaust, and keep more than 75 percent of conditioned air inside. Wadle liked the results so much that he ordered six more air curtains for his second restaurant, Too Ra Loo in Rochester, Michigan.
Read how O’Toole’s opened its storefront and grew sales. Read the full case study in the PDF below.
