Last night, West Hartford's town council passed a resolution to extend outdoor dining hours from 10 p.m. until midnight. Under the prior guidelines, patio diners had to be served by 10 p.m. and could remain until they finished their meal. Under the new rules, the outdoor areas can stay open until midnight, at which time patrons would have to move inside.
Prior to the ruling, Grant's Restaurant manager Gregory Tousignant spoke with The Courant, and revealed his displeasure with the inelastic midnight curfew: "We're not doing cafeteria-style dining," he said rather bluntly. There are a couple of additional caveats: restaurants cannot serve alcohol by the bottle to outdoor diners, and they are unable to charge a cover unless they are hosting a special event. West Hartford boasts one of the top dining scenes in the state, buoyed by standout restaurants like Besito, Grants, and Restaurant Bricco, all of which have sizable outdoor patio areas.
