Downtown Restaurants Announce ‘Eat in the Streets’, Outdoor Dining Option

UPDATE 8/27: Sadly, “Eat in the Streets” has been canceled. Please see the statement below from the Saratoga Restaurant’s George Azar and The Verve’s Connie Wrin: “As leaders of the downtown business community, we had the best of intentions and hopes for this weekend’s “Eat In the Streets” activities, but unfortunately, we no longer feel comfortable moving forward. We encourage everyone to continue to patronize our downtown restaurants, as this has been a challenging year and we are in need of your support. We thank the City of Terre Haute, Board of Works and Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce for their help.”

Downtown Restaurants Announce ‘Eat in the Streets’, Outdoor Dining Option

Terre Haute, Ind.  – New dining options with social distancing and COVID-19 safety in-mind are coming to Downtown Terre Haute beginning August 27.

It’s called “Eat in the Streets” and it’s just as it sounds, local restaurants are offering the chance for diners to eat outside, at distanced tables, in order to comply with social distancing and COVID-19 restrictions.

“This gives downtown restaurants and bars the chance to expand; hopefully bringing people downtown,” says The Verve owner Connie Wrin. “With all of the outdoor festivals and events postponed until next year this gives people a sense of coming together safely while supporting local businesses, restaurants and bars that are struggling through this time.”

The idea, inspired by similar actions in Indianapolis and Bloomington, is being headed up by Wrin, but has backing from a handful of downtown restaurants. Each restaurant is responsible for its own tables, clean-up and alcohol compliance.

“The Saratoga is excited for restaurants to expand outdoor seating; we have had numerous requests for more seating, so hopefully it will not only benefit us but others in the area,” says Saratoga co-owner and City Councilman George Azar. “With COVID-19 still present in our area people have been hesitant to come inside restaurants, this option will possibly alleviate their concerns.”

To create a safe environment for diners to enjoy a meal outside, large barriers provided by the Miracle on 7th Street Board of Directors will be used to safely block closed streets.

The Board of Public Works approved plans to close two sections of Wabash Avenue.

  • Closures begin Thursday at midnight to Sunday at 3am.
  • The corner of 7th Street to J. Gumbo’s will be closed.
  • The area of 5th Street to Taco & Tequila’s will be closed.
  • All other streets will remain open.
  • The First Financial Bank drive-thru will remain open and accessible.
  • The Skygarden Parking Garage will remain open and accessible via Ohio Street.

The City of Terre Haute, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Terre Haute are working to support these efforts by the local restaurants.

“Plans have been coming together quickly this week thanks to the hard work of Connie, the Saratoga staff, Mayor Duke Bennett, the City of Terre Haute and the Chamber staff,” says Chamber President Kristin Craig. “Each restaurant is taking this on in an independent manner based on their business model, but it’s still a great coming together of multiple groups to make this happen for our local downtown businesses.”