Dine Out West Lakeview

Dine Out West Lakeview is organized by Friends of Lakeview, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and partner of the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce and Special Service Area (SSA) 27. Friends of Lakeview is responsible for many of the community programs that residents and visitors of Lakeview enjoy year after year, including Taco Fest and the Low-Line Market. We have demonstrated success hosting small- and large-scale community programming and will organize all aspects of the Dine Out program, including building community support and mitigating local impacts, determining the location and frequency of these initiatives, partnering with local restaurants to participate, ensuring strict sanitation measures are in place, and setting up/tearing down equipment (barricades, tables, etc.).

Participating restaurants located on Southport Ave between Waveland and Grace will expand their outdoor dining tables onto the street to offer direct table service to diners. Alcohol will be served by select restaurants, including 5411 Empanadas, Bodega Sur, Coalfire Pizza and Music Box Theatre. BYOB is not allowed in the Dine Out on Southport street closure.

Music Box Theatre will be serving drinks only and invite customers to order takeout or delivery from a local restaurant to enjoy at their Dine Out on Southport tables.

Lakeview restaurants have seen a dramatic impact from restrictions put in place to help fight the spread of COVID-19, with businesses reporting an average decline in revenues of more than 80% in April. Under the City of Chicago's reopening guidance, restaurants are permitted to open for outdoor dining only with indoor capacities limited to 25%, which places many restaurants at a disadvantage because they either do not have outdoor dining capabilities or their outdoor dining capacity has been severely limited based on social distancing requirements. This also impacts diners, who face long wait times or are getting turned away at local restaurants. Dine Out West Lakeview will provide much-needed outdoor space allowing restaurants to expand capacities, with the potential for restaurants to rehire furloughed employees to fulfill additional orders. Without creative options like Dine Out, many restaurants might not survive.

See below for the street closure days and times for Dine Out on Southport:

• N. Southport Ave from Waveland Ave to Grace St from 2:30pm on Fridays through 10pm on Sundays

We understand that there will be an impact to the community, but we hope that community members will recognize the need for creative solutions to help our local restaurants while creating safer settings for restaurant patrons. Many restaurants might not be able to survive under the limited capacity options provided in Phase 4 and will require additional options for safely expanding their capacity. We are working closely with local resident groups and businesses to plan for and mitigate impacts, and have incorporated feedback into our plans.

The health and safety of customers is most important. Dine Out on Southport was developed based on the City of Chicago's Phase 4 reopening guidance, which allows outdoor dining with tables spaced a minimum of 6 ft. apart with no more than six people per table. Below are some of the steps participating restaurants are taking to ensure that Dine Out on Southport is safe:

• Restaurants will space tables and chairs at least 6' apart and tables will have a maximum party size of 6
• Restaurant staff will wear masks at all times while diners must wear masks whenever they are interacting with service staff, even while seated at their table
• Restaurants will sanitize tables between diners
• Restaurants will have barricades that surround their tables and chairs to provide a barrier for their outdoor seating space

If you are enjoying the unique programming Friends of Lakeview is bringing to the community to support Lakeview businesses and create opportunities for friends and neighbors to connect safely outdoors, we invite you to make a donation to Friends of Lakeview above. A donation to Friends of Lakeview will go towards our mission to support a resilient local economy and high quality of life for local businesses and residents through neighborhood promotion, creating memorable experiences and organizing neighborhood beautification projects such as the Lakeview Low-Line. We greatly appreciate your donation. Together, we'll get through this and ensure that Lakeview comes out stronger.

Shop local before or after you enjoy a meal at Dine Out on Southport! Our neighborhood retailers miss seeing you in their stores. They are putting the safety of their customers as their number one priority with regular cleanings, limited capacity in their stores and more. Lakeview businesses need your support now more than ever, so shop local to support our neighborhood shops who bring so much character and vibrancy to our commercial corridors. Learn more about local business offerings on our Love Local, Love Lakeview website.

Additionally, we are working on a Shop Out West Lakeview program that will create additional outdoor space for local retailers to offer sidewalk sales or pop-up retail markets. More information on our Shop Out program will be available soon.

Email us at info@lakeviewchamber.com.