Philadelphia Details Outdoor Dining Guidelines

PHILADELPHIA — Now that Philadelphia is in the "yellow" phase of Gov. Tom Wolf's plan to reopen the state, city officials Thursday detailed how restaurants will operate as they offer outdoor dining.

While some restaurants won't need to do much to adhere to the new guidelines, others may have to do some work to do so.

"These efforts are intended to provide equitable and immediate relief to ensure our small businesses can sustain themselves and return in a manner that allows them to thrive," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "Philadelphia businesses, especially those that are minority-owned and on neighborhood commercial corridors, have experienced successive, devastating economic setbacks over the last three months."

Below are the guidelines for outdoor dining that provide businesses the opportunity to reopen with safe outdoor dining options, including how businesses can obtain any permits and registrations they need:

• Restaurants with patio areas on their properties or already have sidewalk café licenses can offer outdoor seating beginning Friday given they follow coronavirus safety precautions and have current, valid restaurant licenses.
• Outdoor dining will be expanded to give restaurants four potential options based on their location. All applications will be available online late Friday with reviews beginning Monday, June 15. The four options are:
  • Sidewalk Café — Allows for daily use of sidewalk area in front of the business for restaurant seating.
  • Streetery — Allows for curbside parking at street level (or platform built on street) to be converted into outdoor dining or take-away area for food and beverages.
  • Temporary Use of Private Lots for Dining — Allows restaurants to convert spaces in their parking lots into restaurant seating and to place seating onto vacant lots in most commercial and mixed use zoning districts.
  • Temporary Street Closure — Pilot program beginning this summer that allows for temporary closure of certain streets for shared restaurant seating.

More information on the relief programs and outdoor dining guidelines can be found here.