Is Covering a Restaurant Rooftop Worth It? One Owner's Numbers
Introduction
One New Jersey owner's numbers on covering his restaurant rooftop: 94 of 278 reviews, 250 seats, his own payback math. Plus what to settle before you build.
By Glass Group · Updated October 30, 2026
94 of 278 Google reviews mention a rooftop that has no roof.
That's a real restaurant in New Jersey. Rasul Najafzade of Glass Group sat down with the owner. The owner wanted his rooftop covered, and he came with his own numbers.
This article walks through those numbers. Then it covers what to settle before covering a restaurant rooftop. That way you can run the same math on your own space.
What did the owner's numbers show?
His guests were already using the rooftop and writing about it, roof or no roof. 94 of his 278 Google reviews mention it. The rooftop has a bar and seats up to 250 people. By his own calculation, covering it would pay back within three months. That last figure is his estimate, not a Glass Group promise.
Look at the first number again. About a third of his reviews talk about one space. That space was already selling the restaurant.
What it couldn't do was sell on a bad day. An uncovered rooftop closes when it rains. It shuts for the cold months.
So the owner wasn't asking whether people want the rooftop. They clearly did. He was asking how many more days he could sell it.
Every restaurant is different. Rent, menu, weather and seat count all change the math. But the shape of his question holds for any owner with an outdoor space guests already like.
Why do owners plan a rooftop cover months ahead?
Because the decision is about revenue, and the season sets the deadline. A New York waterfront restaurant owner was buying a second waterfront property. In August, he asked us to hold a November slot on our calendar for his pergola. His goal was simple: make the outdoor space generate money.
Our team put it this way after that meeting:
"Restaurant owners aren't afraid of missing out on a pergola. They're afraid of losing the revenue that an uncovered outdoor space could be generating."
That is the real driver. Not style. Seats, and the days those seats can be sold.
It also explains the timing. A cover gets designed, engineered, approved, built and installed. That takes planning. Owners who want a covered space when the season opens start the conversation in the months before.
Why are rooftops getting this much attention?
Because guests notice them, and so do other owners. A restaurant owner from Florida was in New York on a business trip. She saw our rooftop ad and filled in her contact details on the spot. She wants the same thing over the restaurant she runs in Florida.
Our team summed it up in one line:
"Rooftops are becoming impossible to ignore."
Her case also shows the first hurdle many owners face. She leases her venue. That changes where the project starts.
What has to be settled before a rooftop gets covered?
Four things, in this order: approval, structure, loads and enclosure. Skip one and the project stalls later, usually at the worst time. Here is how we work through them.
1. Approval from the building
If you lease, the landlord has to agree before anything else happens. A rooftop cover is a permanent structure on their building. Bring them in early, with drawings, so their questions get answered once.
2. What the roof stands on
A rooftop cover puts weight into the roof under it. On an existing building, that roof was not designed with a new structure in mind. Somebody has to check what it carries and design the support.
We engineer the steel underneath as part of the job. It's in our scope, not a separate hire.
3. Wind and snow loads for the exact site
Rooftops sit higher and catch more wind. Snow sits on the roof all winter. Every louvered roof we build is engineered for 164 MPH wind and at least 65 PSF of snow. That's our own standard. Where a county or a site calls for more, we engineer more.
4. Open, closed, or both
This decides how many months the space works.
- A louvered roof opens and closes its blades for sun, air and rain.
- A retractable glass roof slides open on a good day and closes into a glass room on a cold one.
- Glass walls or screens on the sides keep wind out when the weather turns.
Decide this at design. The roof, the walls, the heaters and the wiring all hang off the same posts and beams.
How do you run the numbers for your own rooftop?
Use your own figures, the same way this owner did. Nobody outside your business knows them better than you. Start with four questions:
- How many of your reviews already mention the outdoor space?
- How many seats does it hold?
- How many days a year does weather close it today?
- What does a full day out there bring in?
Put those together and you have your own version of his three-month estimate. Then bring it to whoever is building the roof, and ask them to price the structure against it.
One company from drawing to install
A rooftop cover touches design, engineering, steel, permits, fabrication and install. When different companies own different parts, each hand-off is a place for the schedule to slip.
We do all of it. Glass Group was founded in 2012. We draw it and engineer it, including the steel underneath. We build it in our own 50,000 sq ft facility in Secaucus, New Jersey. Then our own crew installs it.
You can see finished work like Char, pictured above, on our projects page.
Got a rooftop your guests already talk about? Send us the plan. Rasul will take a free 20-minute review of the space with you and tell you what it needs to be covered.
