Since the outdoors remain the safest place for people to gather during COVID-19, Evanston restaurants are moving to the sidewalks this summer to provide additional open-air dining.
Evanston Building & Inspection Services division manager Gary Gerdes said a sidewalk cafe is an outdoor dining space, typically on a public sidewalk. The city waived sidewalk cafe permit fees for the season which will run from April 1 to Nov. 1 in an effort to help small businesses during the pandemic. These sidewalk cafes can include parkways, parking lanes and Custer Ave.
“Sidewalk cafes are not new the shift to use other space is relatively new due to COVID-19. There was less indoor dining space,” Gerdes said. “The city was looking for ways to assist the businesses expand their dining spaces.”