Outdoor dining returns for 2026 with mixed reviews from Bronx restaurants
The city currently lists eight restaurants with licenses.
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April 1 marked the return of outdoor dining season around New York City, allowing restaurants to have street and sidewalk sheds for customers.
"The first year we did it, we saw a lot more people that would come to the restaurant specifically for the outdoor seating, so it's something that gives us a lot more revenue, and offers much more of a vibe," said Drin Hoti, the manager of Cka Ka Quello near Arthur Avenue.
Hoti says the restaurant is preparing to host outdoor seating for a second year.
The New York City Department of Transportation says city-wide participation in outdoor dining matches 2025 participation, listing eight restaurants in the Bronx with licenses, a low number, but one that is actually higher than the last two years.
"Our patrons are that much supportive to it, knowing that we don't have that many other establishments offering that experience," said Omar Canales, the brand manager at Seis Vecinos in Longwood, which is also taking part.
Of the three Bronx restaurants listed as having sidewalk dining licenses in 2024, none appear on this year's map.
Others, like Mario's on Arthur Avenue, say they stopped putting out the sheds even before that.
"We didn't feel building, that situation, and the cost of what they were charging us out here - they get enough from me in taxes," explained Regina Delfino, the owner of Mario's.
A few blocks down, Ann and Tony's owner Anthony Napolitano said his restaurant also stopped putting out a shed a few years ago.
"They were just a little headache with all the paperwork and the process that you had to go through to get it," he said, "and there weren't really enough people that wanted to stay outside."
The Department of Transportation says it has been told that more restaurants would apply to put up sheds if they were allowed to stay up permanently, as opposed to current laws, which only allow them between April and November.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin has been leading a push to make them year-round, but Monica Paciullo, the owner of Tino's Delicatessen on Arthur Avenue, says that would make no difference to her.
"I think that would be even worse - especially Christmas time, when we already have limited parking because of snow," she said.
Delfino agreed, saying, "In those cold months, how many people would really sit outside? And then you have to take care of it, you have to shovel snow, you have to maintain it."
A similar bill failed last year, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he would support year-round dining sheds.
