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Outdoor Dining Safety Tips Map
When the weather starts to warm, outdoor dining becomes more popular as everyone wants to people watch and eat under the stars.
However, outdoor dining puts you in a more vulnerable position that is closer to foot traffic, moving vehicles, and unpredictable situations.
Use this Outdoor Dining Safety Tips Map to help you choose the safest seat in an outdoor dining area, stay aware of your surroundings, and keep your personal belongings safe while you enjoy your meal.
Read Recent Restaurant Reviews
Research the restaurant, cafe, or food establishment before heading there, to check the reviews for safety concerns and unpredictable circumstances.
Previous reviews might mention things like aggressive panhandlers outside the restaurant, poor lighting in the parking lot, sketchy foot traffic, undesirable seating locations, or even incidents involving waitstaff and customers.
Browsing the reviews ahead of time could help you make better decisions while visiting the restaurant - or even convince you to choose a different restaurant altogether.
Establish Friendly Relations with the Waitstaff
It's always nice to establish a friendly connection with the waitstaff when you arrive at a restaurant.
A proper greeting, a respectful and appropriate tone, a simple smile, some polite conversation, and treating them with courtesy can go a long way.
If anything dangerous happens whether it's a person loitering too close to your table, a disturbance nearby, or if you just start to feel uncomfortable, the waitstaff will be much more likely to notice, check in on you, and even step in if needed.
Building a small rapport early on and throughout the dining experience will create a dependable line of support with them watching over you and being attentive if you need their assistance for anything.
Carry Self Defense Tools
Carrying self defense tools that are practical, legal, and effective, should be a top priority regardless of whether you're dining indoors or outdoors.
Most self defense tools can be useful, and in some cases they can save your life, while not having too many negatives.
- Practical: they are small and lightweight making it easy to carry in your bag or pocket.
- Affordable: most are reasonably priced and will not break the bank.
- Functional: easy-to-use with no training.
Sit Inward at the Table
Sit inward at the table so you are further away from the sidewalk, walkways, or street, so there is distance between you and other external threats.
Whether it's car exhaust blowing right into your face, or a skilled pick pocketer going for your wallet, it's always better to be seated centrally so there is a safe space protecting you.
Keep Personal Belongings In Sight
Always keep your personal belongings in sight at all times.
Bags hanging off the back of chairs, phones left on the edge of the table, luggage parked under the table, wallets loosely tucked under napkins are prime and easy targets for savvy thieves, especially in busy pedestrian areas.
What can you do? Keep your bag looped around your leg or a chair leg, and place valuables in your lap or somewhere you can see and feel them. Purchase a money belt that goes around your waist to put cell phones and wallets when you're not using them.
Sit Behind Barriers
Try to sit behind a fixed barrier like a planter, median, railing, or any solid structure that separates you from the street or sidewalk.
These barriers are decorative, but they can also provide a layer of protection between you and external threats - everything from moving vehicles and bikes on the street, to criminals and unexpected disturbances from the sidewalk.
Cars have accidentally veered into al fresco dining areas before, and a sturdy obstacle between you and the road gives you a better chance of staying safe.
In quieter neighborhoods where vehicular threats may not be too grave, sitting behind a barrier can reduce your exposure to unpredictable foot traffic and give you a little more peace of mind while you eat.
Outdoor Dining Final Thoughts
Safety tips generally fall under common sense, but these outdoor dining tips are a bit more nuanced and uncommon.
While it may be common knowledge to carry self defense products, very few people will intentionally sit behind barriers or position themselves at the center of sofas.
So should you inconvenience the restaurant or the members of your dining party so everyone is more safe? Yes, you should. It's always better to be safe than sorry, and requesting things like particular seats or to move away from disturbances is simply another mindful act that will ensure your peace of mind.
