coronavirus connecticut

Coronavirus News: Mystic Pizza is first CT restaurant to receive special permit to add outdoor dining

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Saturday, May 23, 2020

Mystic Pizza is first CT eatery to add outdoor dining under special permit

A pizzeria is the first restaurant in Connecticut to receive a permit to use a state highway right-of-way to add outdoor dining allowing it to comply with the state's reopening pla

MYSTIC, Connecticut (WABC) -- The iconic Mystic Pizza will become the first restaurant in Connecticut that can add outdoor dining thanks to a new special permit.

Connecticut restaurants were allowed to offer outdoor dining starting last week, after being limited to delivery and takeout service since the shutdown began. But that put restaurants that lack outdoor space at a disadvantage. To help them, the state created a new permit that allows restaurants to use the state's highway right-of-way to create new space for dining al fresco, and Mystic, made famous in the 1988 movie that's named after it, was the first restaurant to be approved.

The pizzeria is now allowed to add tables in the front of the building near the doorways and on the sidewalk.

"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 executive order also creates an expedited process for municipal governments to make similar adjustments on their end, and the governor said many have already begun to do so.