Patios are once again popping in Cochrane, as Alberta enters Stage 1 of the province's 'Open for Summer' plan.

Back in April, the Town of Cochrane announced an expedited approval process for outdoor patios, giving local restaurants an option to still serve customers in person when the province announced that dine-in service was no longer permitted.

While the limitations weren't ideal, especially for launching a brand new restaurant, it was something.

Gradey McMahon is a partner and the Director of Operations at Cabeza Grande, and he says that usually patios are added after a restaurant has been established, but to work with provincial restrictions, they had to pivot.

"We were ready to go and then the restrictions changed to patio only," says McMahon. "You don't start building a restaurant from the patio backwards, you start from the indoors and work your way out. So, we were set to go and then had to delay the opening while we put together a patio."

After a delayed start to build a patio, provincial restrictions changed again. Cabeza Grande was only able to serve customers in person for three weeks before shifting to take out and delivery.

"The challenges definitely are real with getting open, having to close, going to take-out only," says McMahon. "We're not a take-out business or delivery business so there were challenges learning that side of it, so we could get our food and drink out to people while still learning that side of the business." 

Now with Stage 1 going into effect today (June 1), McMahon says the Cabeza Grande patio is ready for round two, and they're excited to serve the Cochrane community in person.

"We have six tables," says McMahon. "We're just happy to be getting back to having people sitting outside for now and hopefully in the next few weeks inside."

Cabeza Grande is located at 2125, 23 Heartland Boulevard in Cochrane.