Dockside dining keeping restaurants afloat

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE — For many lakeside homeowners, coming to Winnipesaukee means leaving the pavement behind. The water can be both a playground and a means to get somewhere. That somewhere often involves a bite to eat, and restaurants that offer docking have been happy to take their orders.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, eateries that have both docks and a place to eat outside have been unusually busy, enjoying steady traffic at a time when many others have been struggling.

“I think that is a great thing about Winnipesaukee, you can go from town to town by boat and go dining. A lot of people say they land on Friday, unload, and don’t get back into their car until Sunday night (when they leave for the work week),” said Cynthia Makris, who operates the NASWA resort on Paugus Bay.

With an outdoor beach bar and more docking space than any other restaurant on the lake, the NASWA is in a prime position to serve patrons this spring, even during the pandemic.

Makris said the NazBar and Grill opened on Memorial Day weekend and has been serving appreciative patrons since then – so long as the weather is favorable. They have had to take the sides off of their tents, per state regulations, so cold and windy days have kept people away. Otherwise, though, they’ve been busy. Sure, many diners arrive by car, but many also come by personal watercraft, by boat, sometimes even via sea plane.

“People are just so grateful to be sitting at restaurants and eating,” Makris said. She said it’s been clear from talking to her patrons that they’ve missed being able to go out to eat.

“‘First time I’ve been out at a restaurant, first time I’ve been out of my house since March.’ It’s crazy the conversations that you’re having with people,” Makris said. It’s not just one party here and there, but it seems that every patron is thankful to be able to enjoy something that would have seemed unremarkable just last year. “They were so grateful to be out of their house, to be in the fresh air, to be at beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee and eating food.”

In Meredith, Town Docks and Lago eateries, both owned by The Common Man family of restaurants, each have some of their own dock space. They also are right next to the town’s public docks on Meredith Bay, and are frequent destinations for boaters, said Kory Brunell, operations manager for Common Man.

“The Town Docks is one of our bright spots,” Brunell said. “It seems like summer started early in Meredith.”

As schools across the country closed and many workers were told to work from home, many families who had a lakeside home to retreat to often did. That meant that faces usually not seen around the region until mid or late late June were showing up earlier. The Town Docks was ready to serve them, first through take-out, and then with lots of outdoor tables when Gov. Chris Sununu announced that open-air dining was OK as long as tables were at least 6 feet apart.

“We’re one of the few restaurants where you can sit right on the water, we’re very family-friendly, we tend to see a lot of families coming over on their boats,” Brunell said.

Town Docks added options this spring for patrons to make their order online, then pick it up in the parking lot, both of which were new this year, and which Brunell said will likely continue even after COVID-related restrictions are lifted. A third new measure, call-ahead table reservations, was enacted to comply with state advisories, and Brunell said he doesn’t think that will live on longer than is necessary.

“We’re by no means back to where we want to be, but we hope the future will be bright,” Brunell said.

Not every boat on Winnipesaukee can get to the docks at the Wolfetrap, as they have to be able to fit beneath the Main Street bridge in order get to the restaurant on Wolfeboro’s Back Bay. But those that can pull it off will find a newly expanded patio, said Amy McDevitt, manager of the Wolfetrap Grill and Raw Bar.

McDevitt said plans for enlarging their outdoor dining started last year, before “novel coronavirus” became a household term. The addition came at a fortuitous time, because now, she said, “We have as much capacity as if we had our inside seating.”

The Wolfetrap has added the ability for patrons to call ahead for seating, which they never did before, and they can’t seat guests at the bar. Other than that, 2020 has been not much different for the business, McDevitt said.

“For us, it’s not really different. Having the bar not open is difficult, but other than that it’s been pretty seamless,” said McDevitt.

It’s been similarly similar at Liliuokalani's, a coffee and ice cream shop on Paugus Bay in Laconia. Frank Pasquarello, the owner, said they moved the tables on their deck apart, bought masks for employees and hired an extra helper to keep up with cleaning. Aside from those changes, it’s been a typical spring. Better than typical, in fact.

“Business has been good, actually. I was surprised, I thought I would be quiet, but it’s been very good. May is usually a quiet month for us. (But) we opened up and it was pretty busy all along,” Pasquarello said.

Liliuokalani's has a couple of docks for people coming from the lake, and a deck for people to enjoy the view while they work their spoons. Guests are welcome to bring their dogs, too, and Pasquarello said there’s even something on the menu for the furrier of the family members.

At this time of year, it’s usually only busy on the weekends, he said, but that's not been the case this year.

“We’ve been pretty busy during the week, we’ve been surprised,” Pasquarello said. “People are saying, hey, we’re up here, we might as well enjoy our boats.”

A short way up Paugus Bay, Makris said it feels good to be back in business. Hospitality establishments are sad places to be without any guests around, she said. She grew up in the business, and her family has operated the NASWA since 1935, when it started as a water bottling business.

“We’re grateful to be open for our 85th season, though it’s not exactly how we expected to start it,” Makris said.