Changes coming to West Hartford Center next year could impact businesses utilizing the town’s on-street parking space. The area is known for its outside dining and construction could temporarily pause this option for many restaurants.
Changes coming to West Hartford Center next year could impact businesses utilizing the town’s on-street parking space. The area is known for its outside dining and construction could temporarily pause this option for many restaurants.
“In West Hartford it’s essential,” said Whitney Gostyla, a waitress at Luna Pizza. “It’s essential to see that your place is busy and there are people that are interested in being there.”
In the past, restaurants in the center extended their outdoor dining seating into the parking area and added concrete barriers to protect diners.
Restaurants like Zohara already have large a sidewalk in the front and warm weather means more business.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“We’ve had the patio out for about two weeks,” said Zohara’s general manager Kara Rosado.“When the weather is nice, we can do upwards to 3,500 guests a week.”
As part of the town’s infrastructure master plan, sidewalk expansion construction is set to take place sometime next year. This would mean the restaurants utilizing the on-street parking would need to pause outdoor dining during construction of the sidewalk.
Àvert Brasserie, the sister restaurant to Zohara, is one of the restaurants that has been using the on-street parking option.
Local
“They really rely on that,” said Rosado. “Restaurants that don’t have a sidewalk like this or don’t have any patio space at all, they definitely need that for sure to make the most of the season.”
The town manager could not be reached to comment on this story. The town’s master plan says the sidewalk expansion will take place in phases, with each phase lasting between three and six weeks.
For the 2024 outdoor dining season, the town will bring back the on-street dining option for restaurants at the West Hartford Center and a limited amount at Blue Back Square.
