Hinsdale Outdoor Dining Given Go-Ahead

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale officials approved permits for eight restaurants to use village rights-of-way this summer for outdoor dining.

The restaurants are Cafe La Fortuna, Altamura Pizza, Il Poggiolo Ristorante, Nabuki, Fuller House, Vistro Prime, Sauced Pizzeria and Page's Ristorante.

The village's outdoor dining program began during the pandemic in 2020. It was seen as a way to socially distance diners.

"We had the infamous jersey barriers and cobbled together various chairs and tables and put up tents. And all that worked out pretty well, given the circumstances, and was widely popular," Trustee Neale Byrnes said. "We found out that customers really liked outdoor dining."

Since then, Byrnes said, the village has developed more appropriate standards to make such dining more organized and reflective of the village.

"This is still a work in progress," he said. "It probably won't be perfect this year. There will surely be additional lessons learned."