Can "outside food" be prohibited within a dining area situated on a public sidewalk?

Forums:

If a restaurant is utilizing a public right of way (i.e. sidewalk) to seat its patrons, can they legally block the consumption of what is typically known as "outside food" within said dining area?

If so, what about particular items of food that some might require for special diets (i.e. diabetics, celiacs, etc.)?  IOW, do people have more rights if public property is involved?

 

 

No outside food or beverage. Go find a bench somewhere 

you're an odd zoner face.

Depends.   I would imagine most restaurants with sidewalk seating must have some formal agreement with the municipality to allow them to set up chairs and tables.   I further imagine that whatever agreement is in place could address the issue you raise.   If you have a particular restaurant in mind, the agreement should be a public record and you can check it out to see if it gives the restaurant the right to exclude outside food from the tables.

Here is a description of how it works in Portland:

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=186198

According to this information, "All food must be prepared within your building; cooking and preparation of food within the sidewalk area is prohibited."  So, yes, a restaurant with sidewalk seating in Portland can, and is actually required, to prohibit food not prepared in the building.

Moreover, a restaurant can always refuse service and ask someone to leave, so long as it is not based on a protected class.   So regardless of what any agreement between the city and restaurant might be, the restaurant can always tell you that they won't serve you a drink while you eat your take out from the place down the street. 

What kind of outside food or drink ?

I bet if a homeless person sat down and started drinking from their mason jar, they'd leave em alone.

According to this information, "All food must be prepared within your building; cooking and preparation of food within the sidewalk area is prohibited."  So, yes, a restaurant with sidewalk seating in Portland can, and is actually required, to prohibit food not prepared in the building.

Moreover, a restaurant can always refuse service and ask someone to leave, so long as it is not based on a protected class.   So regardless of what any agreement between the city and restaurant might be, the restaurant can always tell you that they won't serve you a drink while you eat your take out from the place down the street. <<<

This is what i suspected (and also found in other locations), but still curious if restaurant owners can be as onerous (vs. inside or private space) with restrictions for those who have special dietary needs?

The intake fee is $250 and is due at the time of application. Insurance review fee of $23.70 is required at the time of issuance. The annual permit fee for the first year is $100 plus $12.00 per linear foot of café space. The total linear feet of the Sidewalk Café operation will be determined during a site visit by City staff. The renewal permit fee for each subsequent year will be $100 plus $5.00 per linear foot of cafe space. 

^ If I understand this correctly, it's relatively cheap.  For a restaurant that has a 30 foot span:

First year:  $733  ($250 + $23.70 + $100 + $360)

Second year:  $250  ($100 + $150)

So after the first year, the price is $250/yr. for a private entity to restrict a citizen from eating food on a specific stretch of public property.

 

 

 

What kind of outside food or drink ?<<<<

My dad has type 1 diabetes.  I've seen him down plenty of "outside food" (glucose tubes, fruit strips, or other high sugar content items) while waiting for food at a restaurant if his blood sugar has dipped too far downward.

What if a person witch Celiac's disease discovers they can only eat half of what has been served to them & doesn't want to "chance it" on the waitperson's offer to bring something else?  What about someone with food sensitivities in the same situation?

I just find it amazing that a private entity might hold all the cards on this front pertaining to what is public property. 

Re private businesses on public sidewalks. A few years ago the city of Eugene tried leasing the sidewalk space in front of downtown businesses to the businesses themselves, effectively creating an “extension” of the store’s respective footprints. Which of course immediately gave cause for the city to arrest homeless people who were now “trespassing” in and around these private businesses. It didn’t really work out too good for the city in the end. I believe the city of Eugene is currently policing the homeless by installing mobile, trailer-mounted video cameras attached to tall poles all over town in parking lots and at intersections. Sort of like homeless eye in the sky monitoring,

I have never seen bums eating like that so I say , no, that would rival the library as a hang out for the homeless if allowed

The appeal of dining amid auto-exhaust fumes has always escaped me.

Patio Seating!

>The appeal of dining amid auto-exhaust fumes has always escaped me.
 

same for running

You probably should just stay at home to eat. 

 

Next FOM thread title suggestion:

If you eat "outside food" and get food poisoning from the outside food, or choke on it, can you still sue the restaurant? They allowed it to happen!

If my waiter is accidentally shot down while bringing my food out to the table, does Iran have to pay for it?

In Australia there is Plenty of Sidewalk Dining and Drinking and Puffing Herb.

By The Way Sydney Harbor and Nearby Beaches Are AMAZING !

What about the temporary permanent food truck areas? 

FOM - do you use baby wipes as a final clean after wiping your ass with regular toilet paper?

 

>>>The appeal of dining amid auto-exhaust fumes has always escaped me.<<<

 

I used frequent a restaurant which had outdoor seating next to a bus stop. I would occasionally sit there for a drink, if I had my dogs in tow. 

 

 

FOM - do you use baby wipes as a final clean after wiping your ass with regular toilet paper?<<<

It depends, but the biggest key issues:

- Whether I'd be taking a shower afterwards before going "out and about"

- Whether I'm already out and about

- How soft / effective is TP in light of the "profile" of #2

If there's a show involved, then there's a 99% chance I have wipes with me and they'll be used.

You probably should just stay at home to eat<<<

Perhaps it'd be more accurate to suggest that I should probably stay away from all instances where private entities leverage public assets.  But then who would be there to "observe"?