State permits outdoor seating at iconic Mystic Pizza
If you’re visiting the Connecticut coastline anytime soon, you’ll be able to dine outdoors at one of the state’s most iconic restaurants.
Mystic Pizza, which inspired the 1988 Julia Roberts film of the same name, has been the recipient of a state permit that enables it to use a state highway right-of-way for outdoor dining, a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced.
The permit represents the first of its kind that the administration has issued during the coronavirus crisis, according to the statement.
It’s meant to help the restaurant run a business while complying with reopening regulations that prohibit indoor dining.
Lamont’s announcement comes three days after Connecticut began a slow reopening process amid an ongoing battle with the coronavirus.
“We want to do our best to partner with businesses to make any adjustments we can to help commercial operations resume while also maintaining the necessary health standards that will keep customers and employees protected,” Lamont said. “This is going to require some creative modifications that we’ve never had to do before, but working together we can find solutions to many of these obstacles.”
The permit is the result of an executive order aimed to create an expedited process through which restaurants and other businesses could receive allowances for outdoor activities, per the governor’s statement.
While Mystic Pizza may be the first restaurant to receive such accommodations from the state, municipalities like New Haven have explored similar measures at the local level.
Earlier this month, the city announced it was looking to expand a program that enables restaurants to use municipal parking spaces for outdoor dining and was even considering closing off certain streets to cars.
Stamford created a temporary outdoor dining application for businesses and said the city aimed to process requests as quickly as possible, according to its website.
Residents who ventured out Wednesday to dine at a Stamford restaurant for the first time in months were thrilled to be there.
Yet many Americans have been cautious about getting back out to patronize businesses.
Fred McKinney, a professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University, said he went to the mall Wednesday to research the crisis and found the facility mostly empty.
And not all businesses opted to reopen on May 20.
Many, such as the Beardsley Zoo and the Mystic Aquarium, elected to take more time to make preparations.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus continues to rise, although the rate has slowed.
The state reported another 38 coronavirus-related deaths Saturday, bringing the total to 3,675, according to a release from the governor’s office.
Another 382 tests came back positive for COVID-19, putting that total at just over 40,000, the release said.
Hospitalizations were down by 16 patients, according to the state data.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.