This week's top 10: CDC report links restaurants to COVID-19 surge, The Tamale Guy reopens, restaurants prepare for outdoor dining in winter

COVID-19-related dining room closures and capacity limitations mean that restaurants will still need to use patios and sidewalks as weather worsens, but how are restaurants preparing for the impending cold weather? Operators from across the country share both their hopes and fears with the upcoming cold season while still battling a deadly disease.

In worse news for the restaurant industry, the Centers for Disease Control released a report that found coronavirus cases rose in states where bara and restaurants were open for dining indoors or outdoors. The National Restaurant Association called the report "flawed" and said the agency shouldn't blame one industry for spreading COVID-19. The report linked a rise in ten states during the summer surge of the virus to participants eating out two weeks prior to the positive test.

And rounding out the week in COVID-19, Chicago's famous Tamale Guy, Claudio Velez, was admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and was reported to be on a ventilator at one point. Velez, however, is reported to be in stable condition at the moment and, after his staff tested negative for the virus, the brick-and-mortar restaurant The Tamale Guy re-opened this past week to diners in Chicago.

See what else was trending this week on Restaurant Hospitality.