Dining Out NYC is New York City's permanent outdoor dining program. The requirements for how sidewalk and roadway cafes are designed, built, and operated are available on New York City's official rules website.
Setup Guides
To help food service establishments understand the requirements for outdoor dining, the City has created an interactive guide. This guide has information ranging from how far a roadway cafe must be from a crosswalk or fire hydrant, to the materials for an overhead covering, to how to clean in and around your cafe.
Select the dining setup below for a step-by-step guide or jump to a specific section to learn more.
Please note this is a summary of requirements. Please refer to the official NYC Rules website for full details. If you have any questions on eligibility please reach out to DiningOutNYC@dot.nyc.gov, we are here to help.
Roadway Cafes
