For some completely non-sensical reason Providence has a law where resturants and bars and coffee places can’t put outdoor tables on their sidewalks until April 1st.
Normally this isn’t such a big whoop, but boy is it annoying this week. All of my favorite outdoor eating/drinking venues don’t have their tables out. I can think of two reasons for why this law might exist—a) something related to shoveling when it shows, or b) something related to the city asking for money for variances—and the one landlord I talked to about it said that neither one of those things could possibly be the case, since a) landlords shovel, not the city, and b) there aren’t even any variances or licenses or exemptions to apply for.
Some folks, like Seven Stars on Broadway and Blake’s downtown, seem to be flaunting the law, while others—Julian’s and Nick’s and AS220, for instance—are apparently just more law-abiding.
