NH Restaurants Getting Ready for Outdoor Dining

New Hampshire restaurants are poised to offer outdoor dining for a second year to help with the pandemic restrictions they have endured.

According to New Hampshire Business Review, the following towns have already taken the step of approving outdoor dining for the next season: Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Derry, Portsmouth, Dover, Salem, Merrimack, Keene, Bedford, Exeter, Hanover, Lebanon, North Conway, Peterborough and my town, Rochester.

This expansion means the number of outdoor tables and available seating will continue to be creative, and it will look a little different in each town.

For example, some towns will be able to expand their outdoor dining into parking spaces, according to the NH business review.

Other towns, such as Merrimack, have not made allowances for expansion into those public spaces, the article states.

Tim Thomas, community development director in Merrimack, tells nhbr.com, “All of our outdoor dining approvals were within the private property that the business and restaurants were already located on.”

I am really excited that my town of Rochester has amended its outdoor dining ordinances for live music.

The ordinance will have changed requirements for rubber stoppers and overhead canopies, according to the NH Business Review.

I think live music while I grab a beer is one of my most missed lockdown requirements.  I can’t wait to walk around the block from my apartment and grab a beer while hearing some live music.  The arts have been hit just as hard as the dining and hospitality industry.  Local musicians must be stoked at the opportunity.

Tune-up those guitars!  Let’s help local musicians and restaurants get back on their feet and start enjoying outdoor dining as soon as the weather permits.