FULTON MARKET — Fulton Market restaurants are now able to serve diners streetside throughout the week as part of the city’s outdoor dining program.
The program closes off traffic in commercial corridors to allow restaurants to set up tables in the streets for outdoor dining.
In mid-August, the West Central Association and West Loop Community Organization launched outdoor dining at the Fulton Market gateway, with the program running Friday-Sunday. Last week, the groups expanded the Fulton Market program to operate every day, said Rod Burch, executive director of the West Central Association.
West Fulton Market is now closed 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily between Halsted and Peoria streets and between Sangamon and Morgan streets.
Barricades have also placed between along Peoria and Sangamon streets to allow Time Out Market’s food hall to expand its outdoor dining.
Earlier this summer, the organizations worked with restaurants to create outdoor service along Randolph Street in the West Loop.
The response was so positive the organizations expanded Randolph Street dining from weekends to seven days a week in mid-July, Burch said.
Burch said the weeklong street closing aims to help nearly a dozen restaurants along the Fulton Market corridor hit hard by the coronavirus.
With the city’s new Winter Design Challenge where Chicagoans can dream up innovative outdoor dining solutions during the winter months, Burch said it’s possible restaurants will be able to keep dining streetside in the early winter.
Read all of Block Club’s coverage on outdoor dining here.
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