Wu unveils 2024 outdoor dining plan for Boston, with same North End restrictions

It's the first sign of spring: Applications are open for the outdoor dining program in Boston from May 1 through Oct. 31.

Mayor Michelle Wu's administration is offering restaurants the opportunity to spread out onto the sidewalks in the warmer weather for the same fee as last year. Approved restaurants with liquor licenses have to pay a fee of $399 per month, those without must pay $199.

However, many restaurants in the North End will be shut out of the program for a second year.

“This season will build on what we’ve learned over the last few years of outdoor dining in our city, solidifying Boston as a summer food destination for residents and visitors alike,” said Segun Idowu, chief of Boston's office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, in a press release.

Patios that extend onto public sidewalks must leave over five feet of space for pedestrians to pass, according to the outdoor dining guidance posted on the city's website, with wider pathways more likely to be approved.

Outdoor dining that juts into public streets will be allowed, according to a guidance pamphlet from the city, but applications will be denied if the patio impedes traffic flow. Like last year, the North End will not be allowed to have on-street dining because of narrow sidewalks and streets along with a short supply of resident parking and heavy foot traffic, the city said.

Outdoor dining permissions in the North End have been a point of contention between the city and some restaurants in the historically Italian neighborhood home to many restaurants. In 2022, the city imposed a fee of $7,500 and a later start date on North End eateries looking to have outdoor dining, a cost not applied to other neighborhoods.

Wu said at the time that the fee was to help offset the cost on the city to supplement parking spaces taken up by on-street patios. A group of restauranteurs then sued, claiming the action violated their equal protection rights and discriminated against white Italian men. The suit was later dropped.

The outdoor dining program was created in 2020 in the height the COVID pandemic under temporary state legislation.