So what's on the menu for outdoor dining? A lot, a little or none at all

April Erika Roth and Austin Haley of Manchester share a laugh while awaiting their meal at Revolution last April as Copper keeps an eye out for intruders. (Rochester Voice file photos)

ROCHESTER - Rochester's outdoor dining could look a lot different this year ... or maybe not.

The city's point person on gauging restaurant owners' appetites for outdoor dining is Assistant Director of Economic Development Jenn Marsh, who said on Thursday there are a myriad of options from which they could choose.

"It could be on a site by site basis," she said. "It depends on what they apply for."

The applications for outdoor dining are normally due by March 1, but with so many eateries still mulling how to go, she said she would likely be asking the city for a deadline extension.

Looking back, while 2020 was a boom year for outdoor dining due to the pandemic, when full indoor capacity kicked in last summer outdoor diner numbers dwindled.

TIME TO DUCK INSIDE: A couple walks by empty outdoor dining areas along North Main Street during a hard rain on July 7, 2021.

Several extended heat waves and a lot of rain kept numbers down further, which has restaurateurs deciding whether its worth it to go full blown with the barriers and the staging or to have just a few tables outside.

Several downtown restaurants spent thousands of dollars making their al fresco spaces attractive the past two years, but with the pandemic seemingly on the wane, is it worth doing it again?

That's what Marsh is trying to determine by reaching out to restaurant owners both in the downtown and out.

She said only two applications have been approved so far: My Cielo Taquera and Wild Willy's Burgers, both on Columbus Avenue.

Focusing on the downtown eateries, Marsh said it comes down to

1) do they want to take away the parking spaces, redo the staging and have a larger area for outdoor dining

2) do they want to give back the parking spaces, and reduce their area to just two or three tables on the sidewalk just outside their restaurant.

3) or simply have no outdoor dining

If they do have outdoor dining just on the sidewalk, however, there needs to be 32 inches of unobstructed space to be ADA compliant.

"They have to figure out what works best for them," Marsh said, adding she continues to reach out for input.

She said she'll be back meeting with the codes and ordinance committee on March 3. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.