The Survivors In Philly s Restaurant Scene Have Begun To Exhale An art installation with a simple message, seen outside Cafe Lift in Philadelphia s Callowhill neighborhood in February 2021.
March is normally the month in which business begins to pick up for restaurants as the winter pattern of dead periods punctuated by holidays gives way to warmer weather and more spontaneous dining excursions. But expanded outdoor dining, stimulus checks and vaccinations have combined to make the improvement even more dramatic this year.
In Greater Center City the boundaries of which Center City District defines as Girard Avenue to the north, Tasker Street to the south and the Delaware River on the east and the Schuylkill River on the west the number of outdoor diners rose over 20%, from 3,653 in February to 4,406 in mid-March, according to CCD data.