Igloos May Help Save Outdoor Dining in Hampton, NH

A number of restaurants have been able to hang in there with pandemic restrictions thanks to outdoor dining, but as the weather starts to cool, many restaurants will be struggling.

According to WMUR, The Galley Hatch in Hampton will be offering outdoor dining in igloos: large plastic bubbles can seat one family at a time.

The igloos are clear, see-through and even have windows so you can open them for some extra ventilation, the news station reports, and the igloos, or street bubbles as I like to call them, are outfitted with heaters and lighting to make for a unique dining experience.

The owners of the Galley Hatch have received many questions about the safety of the igloos.

Owner Jillian Mansfield tells WMUR, “All of the walls, interior, they’re sprayed down; they’re wiped down.  The chairs, the tables, tablecloths are replaced.  We have blankets in there for people to keep warm: Those are washed in between parties as well.”

If this sounds like a lot of precautions, you would be correct.  It’s a lot of work.  That is why eating in one of the igloos requires a reservation and costs $200 to dine, WMUR states.

It sounds like a lot of money, but for some families that want to celebrate something special like an anniversary, a wedding, a birthday, it could be worth it to make the celebration special.

Given the amount of extra work, the Galley Hatch is doing it seems like a bargain if you want to get out to a restaurant. As COVID continues to rise across the county, as many precautions as we can take are good.

I was watching a movie and there was a nightclub scene with a packed dance floor, and I thought how strange something so normal has become non-existent. I think about all the things I took for granted.  Dining in an igloo might be the new normal for a long time.