Mahogany Grille finds the cure for chilly customers
The Mahogany Grille is a premier dining establishment in downtown Durango, Colorado. Located in the historic Strater Hotel, this upscale restaurant features exquisite seasonal menus, live jazz entertainment, an opulent Victorian bar—and the latest in heated glass technology.
The front windows of the Mahogany Grille provide an excellent view of the city’s scenic downtown. Unfortunately, they also created problems keeping the restaurant warm and comfortable, especially in winter. Customers would regularly request a table away from the windows, despite the view. Even so, cold air from the windows would often find them anyway.
“We had a real problem with drafts,” admitted Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel and Mahogany Grille.
In January 2007, Barker found what he calls the “perfect” solution. He installed two new windows with Thermique™ heated glass at the front of the restaurant.
The goal of the project was clear: Eliminate the chilly air and cold drafts caused by the front windows. Barker was originally skeptical that Thermique heated glass could solve both problems, but he soon realized his new windows were a complete success.
“Initially, I wasn’t sure the heated windows would produce enough benefits to make it worthwhile, but it definitely has,” he explained. “Does it really solve the problem? Yes, it does!”
The Mahogany Grille was the first restaurant in North America to adopt heated glass technology for windows. Installation was completed in a single morning before the restaurant opened, so the project did not have any effect on normal business hours.
“Thermique really turned that around,” said Barker. “We’ve taken a negative and turned it into a positive. Our customers are eager to sit near the window and enjoy the view.”
Operating the heated windows is a one-step process. When employees turn on the lights to the restaurant, they also flip on the heated glass with an ordinary wall switch. “Can you train someone to use a light switch?” joked Barker. “It’s that simple.”
Twelve months after installing Thermique heated glass at the Mahogany Grille, Barker says it was a wise investment for the restaurant. Eliminating the uncomfortably cold area near the windows has increased the floor space available to customers for dining (and thus the revenue potential for the restaurant). The problem of cold drafts and cold customers has completely disappeared.
Thermique Technologies, LLC
312-326-2522
www.thermiquetechnologies.com