Remember during the pandemic when restaurants turned parking lots into outdoor dining venues? That move, intended to keep businesses afloat and diners safer from the virus, required loosening some existing laws. Now, new legislation will make more outdoor dining a permanent fixture in California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law this week that advocates say will help restaurants across the state stay open, reduce construction times, inspire new types of food businesses and offer outdoor dining with a lot less red tape.
In Southern California, with some of the best weather in the nation, the restaurant insiders say they’re excited to see how the changes play out.
What you should know about the new laws
- AB 592: This law makes it easier for restaurant owners to offer outdoor dining. Read the full law
How it works: Eddie Navarrette, president of L.A’s Independent Hospitality Coalition, notes that this new law also allows cooking outside of commercial kitchens in “satellite food service areas.” Under the new rules, food prep still must take place in “a food compartment or fully enclosed facility approved by the enforcement officer.”…