AKRON, Ohio — Brad Markle is the owner of barley house in Akron, a downtown staple for the last six years.

What You Need To Know

  • You can order any adult beverage at a participating DORA establishment and drink it outside in a designated area in downtown

  • Must have drink in designated DORA cup

  • Enjoy downtown DORA everyday until midnight

And like any other local business, he too has felt the effects of the pandemic.

“A lot of people are probably more concerned about coming out, especially with a virus that we don’t know enough about. So, no one can really blame them, but it’s also something we have never been through before.”

Markle hopes Akron’s new designated outdoor refreshment area, also known as a DORA, will help bring in a new set of guests who didn’t feel comfortable sitting down inside of bars or restaurants.

“People can enjoy more activities down here otherwise being kind of cooped up inside of a restaurant, especially will the social distancing rules right now, people can actually enjoy downtown and be out in the open if that makes them feel a little more comfortable.”

So here’s how it works: You can go to a participating restaurant and order an alcoholic drink in a “DORA cup." Then, you can enjoy your beverage anywhere within the downtown DORA boundaries or at any business with a DORA decal.

 “It's beer and any alcohol, so if they want a mixed drink or a draft beer or even a bottled beer if that’s what they prefer, it just has to be in the cup with DORA sticker on it. That prevents people from bringing their own alcohol down here,” said Markle.

This program is still new; the first day for DORA was Oct. 1. Markle says he’s excited to see how this impacts the downtown area.

“A lot of people said they were able to go down through Lock 3 and walk the paths. Obviously, it’s not super warm outside right now, but everyone seemed to love it."

You can enjoy the DORA every day until midnight.