By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Outdoor dining was first introduced in Sea Isle City in 2008 as a way to liven up the culinary scene and create a more upscale atmosphere in the downtown business district.
Widely viewed as a hit with summer tourists, it allows restaurant customers to have drinks with their meals while seated outdoors at café-style tables overlooking the city’s sidewalks.
Now, as the coronavirus restrictions begin to ease and New Jersey’s restaurants prepare to reopen June 15 after a three-month shutdown during the pandemic, Sea Isle is looking to take advantage of the experience it has with outdoor dining.
City officials are talking to local restaurateurs and bar owners about expanding outdoor dining and liquor sales – within reason.
“If the city can make an accommodation for something like that, we would,” Police Chief Tom McQuillen said in an interview Wednesday.
However, McQuillen stressed that the city wants to start “small and slow” in teamwork with the restaurants and bars.
As New Jersey continues to emerge from coronavirus shutdown restrictions, Gov. Phil Murphy will allow restaurants and bars statewide to begin offering outdoor dining on June 15. There is no timetable yet for permitting dining indoors.
The governor is giving local municipalities the power to decide whether bars and restaurants that don’t already have outdoor dining space can get “creative” by using parking lots, sidewalks and even public streets as areas for seating.
Sea Isle Police Chief Tom McQuillen says the city will review outdoor expansion plans by local bars and restaurants on a case-by-case basis.
Sea Isle spokeswoman Katherine Custer noted that Mayor Leonard Desiderio wants to work with bar and restaurant owners “as much as possible” to help them recover from the coronavirus shutdown. Desiderio is the owner of the Kix-McNutley’s bar and entertainment complex in Sea Isle.
Desiderio said in a statement Tuesday that his administration is developing plans “to offer broad latitude to these businesses to take advantage of outdoor spaces in order to most safely provide their goods and services.”
McQuillen and City Solicitor Paul Baldini met with local bar and restaurant owners on Tuesday to discuss outdoor dining and liquor sales. The mayor was not part of the meeting, Custer said.
The city is working with the owners on ways that will possibly allow them to “spread their wings” for outdoor dining and drinks, McQuillen said. They will submit their plans to the city for review.
“It’s a case-by-case basis of what we will accept,” McQuillen said.
Two of Sea Isle’s best-known restaurants and taverns, the Ocean Drive and sister property O’Donnell’s Pour House, both located on Landis Avenue, are planning to offer outdoor dining this summer.
“We’re excited,” said Ralph Pasceri, who owns the Ocean Drive and O’Donnell’s with his brother, Pat, and business partner Michael Roberts.
The Ocean Drive bar and nightclub on Landis Avenue will offer outdoor dining this summer at its Sandbar & Grill.
The Ocean Drive, also known as the OD, operates The Sandbar & Grill outdoors. Pending final approval by Sea Isle’s planning board, O’Donnell’s is getting ready to build a new outdoor dining area next door.
“We’re busy making plans to make sure that the social distancing and sanitizing requirements are met,” Pasceri explained of New Jersey’s regulations for outdoor dining.
When restaurants and bars reopen, one thing Sea Isle will not allow is for people to carry open containers of alcohol around in public, McQuillen said. In a bid to draw more visitors to their towns, Atlantic City and a few other shore communities have announced plans to permit people to drink alcohol in so-called “open-container zones.”
Sea Isle already has a law on the books prohibiting open alcohol containers. There are also existing laws that regulate the hours for outdoor dining, liquor sales and the playing of music.
When outdoor dining resumes in Sea Isle, music will have to stop at 9 p.m. and the serving of drinks must end at 10 p.m. Outdoor establishments will have to wrap things up by 11 p.m. These time restrictions are already part of the city’s outdoor dining regulations.
Beginning June 15, the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control will offer temporary permits that will allow restaurants and bars with liquor licenses to expand outdoors, including sidewalks, parking lots, decks, patios and other areas next to their businesses. The permits will be good until Nov. 14.
Bars and restaurants seeking the temporary permit to serve liquor outdoors must receive municipal approval and will have to comply with local laws.
Outdoor dining along Sea Isle's sidewalks is a popular summertime attraction.
