Allegheny County

Neighborhood restaurant proposes bring-your-own chair for parking lot dining

CASTLE SHANNON, Pa. — A local restaurant is getting creative to give people a friendly dining experience as well as room to dance all while staying socially distant.

The Linden Grove in Castle Shannon has been around for 148 years. Marketers with the bar and nightclub say they knew they were going to have to get creative and think outside the box to keep business going, so it led them to the idea of creating social distancing boxes in their parking lot.

Leigh Levy came up with the creative concept of "party pods" in the parking lot.

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"They're sectioned off from their own little spaces they can enjoy music, food, dance and just have a good time,” Levy said.

She's spending her time carefully measuring 10 feet between each box and painting lines to ensure people say in them.

"They actually order their food, we bring it out to them, they all bring their own lawn chair and they sit on the corners,” said Al Falcione, the owner of Linden Grove.

You have to call or text ahead for a reservation and space will obviously be limited since large crowds still aren't allowed, but their hope is to be able to give people options.

Their goal is to have a trial run this weekend before opening it up to the public next week.