Restaurants set up summer outdoor dining along Moody Street

Tonight Moody Street is determined to weather the weather and return  to Waltham’s now-annual tradition of opening the street for outdoor dining and retail.

Like last year, the city will not be halting any car traffic on Moody Street. Outdoor dining will stay up until Labor Day, extending over some parts of the sidewalk and in cordoned-off parts of the street’s parking spots. 

Moody Street’s outdoor dining has historically been popular with Waltham residents and local restaurants, and at least a dozen restaurants will be participating this year. “People really enjoy outside dining on Moody Street, and I have to say I enjoy it as well,” said Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris.

Harris and Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan, who also represents parts of Moody Street, championed this outdoor dining plan, in the context of discussions about limiting Moody Street traffic permanently. These discussions have since been dismissed by the Traffic Commission.

What’s happening this year

Lizzy’s Ice Cream was one of the first businesses on the street to expand into outdoor dining. This year owner Miriam Benitez is looking forward to setting up a patio as soon as the weather allows. “When it’s raining, we don’t sell a lot of ice cream,” Benitez pointed out.

Still, outdoor dining is set to start this evening after health inspections are completed.

Harris warned that some of these inspections may be delayed by inclement weather. She said that outdoor dining may roll out gradually over the next few days as a result of the weather.

Some of these restaurants have also been delayed because of communications issues. “Last year … nobody really knew what was going to happen until the last minute. And then all the restaurants were scrambling to get tables and chairs ready, to schedule staff,” said Logan. 

This year the city started planning early. It invited businesses to apply to extend their storefronts into the sidewalk and in some cases into the parking spots, where they’ll be separated from the street by jersey barriers.  

Still, some businesses missed the initial memo and had to file late for their outdoor dining permits. Harris and Logan said that’s due to spotty communication, and it’s one of the ways they’re hoping to improve the city’s processes for next year.

Although the permits allow for both outdoor dining and retail, almost all businesses expanding outdoors are restaurants. In previous years, Harris pointed out, the grocery Waltham India Market has historically participated, setting up a dining area for customers to eat purchased food on-site. Waltham India Market declined to comment on their plans for this year.

Years in the making

Moody Street introduced outdoor dining years ago, but expanded it significantly during the summer of 2020 to allow for outdoor dining compliant with COVID-19 regulations. 

This program, Harris said, helped many restaurants weather the closures of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Many participants have fond memories of it, too: “I thought it was a lot of fun,” said Dinny Myerson, owner of Gourmet Pottery. “People were really enjoying themselves and kids were playing … I got new customers because people wandered in from eating out or from having ice cream.”

The program proved popular enough that the street was opened for only outdoor dining and pedestrian traffic again over the next three summers. Last year, however, the city instead allowed outdoor dining without pausing traffic.

The current plan has found favor with some businesses that have disapproved of a pedestrianized Moody Street. 

Suman Sandhii, who owns Suman’s Salon, is against closing down traffic on the street. “It’s good for me if I have a parking [spot] in front of my store,” she added. She has no problem, however, with this year’s program that allows far-off neighbors to expand into the sidewalk and other parking spaces.

Although the city is no longer considering closing the street down to traffic for anything other than occasional events, Harris is pushing for more pedestrian-focused improvements along Moody Street, including bump-outs — which would allow pedestrians to cross at intersections more safely — and beautification projects. 

“I do think we can do improvements on Moody Street … like getting the trash off the street [with new bins], making room for bike racks. Maybe creating some parklets and some benches,” she said. “[We want] people coming down and being able to enjoy the street, not just driving through it or riding through it.”

Logan added that Waltham residents aren’t always familiar with the diversity of retail stores and restaurants Moody Street offers. “People need to think more about Moody Street, and discover everything that’s down there.”