Toronto restaurants are getting increasingly creative when it comes to keeping guests warm, and one has actually created individual covered pods for outdoor dining on their patio.

Louis Cifer Brew Works is a brewery and restaurant that set up a lively sidewalk patio this summer with TVs facing the seating playing sports. Now that temperatures are plummeting and indoor dining is suspended, they're facing a whole new set of challenges.

"We put up the pods because our patio is so exposed to the elements and we are obviously not able to enclose it with a tent. Heaters are too expensive and ineffective against the wind," says Erin Gamelin, Owner/President at Louis Cifer Brew Works and Stout Irish Pub.

"I saw that a restaurant in New York was doing pods, but when I went online to see the cost of them they were thousands of dollars. I found these little green houses online that perfectly fit a table for two. Everyone is protected from the elements and each other!"

Online shopping for the win! Other restaurants have also innovated their own solutions: for example, Paupers Pub has created individual heated cubbies. If you're looking for a more enclosed pod, check out the InterContinental or Against the Grain.

Some places even have tent-like structures that almost resemble regular dining rooms.

"We also include a blanket for guests to keep for $3.25. Every pod gets thoroughly disinfected with a sanitizing aerosol spray and of course tables and chairs are also wiped down with disinfectant," says Gamelin.

They're also not the first restaurant or bar to offer blankets to guests seated on the patio. With patio season extended for longer than ever before due to necessity, business owners have had to constantly stay one step ahead to survive.

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