BOSTON — After extending outdoor dining earlier in the fall, outdoor dining is officially over for restaurants using public spaces, though the City of Boston is already considering a longer season for 2021.
Over 400 restaurants were approved to seat guests outside, some of them using sidewalks, or parking spaces, others had their own private patio seating areas.
“It was a home run for us and I’m very grateful that we had the opportunity to use the street and the sidewalk,” said Doug Bacon, owner of multiple restaurants including The Avenue in Allston-Brighton.
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The extended season and use of different spaces was not without issue for restaurants who had to maintain a space and grapple with weather.
“You have to do the upkeep with the plants and the trees the umbrellas rolling into the street on a windy day it was definitely a lot of work but at the end of the day it probably saved us,” said Jen Royle, owner of Table and Table Mercato.
Boston mayor Marty Walsh said the city is working on a plan for spring 2021 to bring back expanded outdoor dining.
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“We are working now on an aggressive plan to come back strong in April with maybe even some new and approved additions to outdoor dining,” Walsh said in a news conference.
Bacon says the state’s recently mandated curfew that forces restaurants to close by 9:30 p.m. is having a dramatic impact on revenue, and should end because state health reports show that COVID-19 transmission is not happening in great numbers as a result of dining.
Walsh said he would not recommend the state remove the curfew now, given the latest case count numbers in Boston.
“We have 400 case today new cases from yesterday,” Walsh stated. “If we have two more weeks of having our numbers going in the right direction then I would recommend that we could lift the curfew.”
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