Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tasty Burger in Cambridge Debuts First Pop-Up Cafe in Parking Space

The city of Cambridge is now allowing restaurants to lease parking spaces to open pop-up cafes, and a small group of local burger restaurants is the first to take advantage of this.

The Cambridge Chronicle and TAB is reporting that Tasty Burger at the corner of JFK Street and Mt. Auburn Street in Harvard Square is leasing a space on the latter street, with the space being the site of a temporary wooden deck that will act has an outdoor dining space for the eatery. The article says that the pilot program is designed to give restaurants with no room for outdoor patios or decks another way to have outdoor dining--though unlike many patios or decks, food has to be ordered inside. In the case of Tasty Burger, the restaurant could not have an outdoor patio because the sidewalk isn't large enough out front, so they applied for a pop-up cafe permit, which the city approved.

The acting deputy director for the Community Development Department states that pop-up cafes are only allowed where there is an abundance of parking and they have to be adjacent to the restaurants, according to the article. (Currently, Tasty Burger is the only dining spot in Cambridge to apply for a pop-up cafe permit.)