Janos is Adding Sidewalk Dining to DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails

December 13, 2011

By Teya Vitu

Sidewalk dining is coming to DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails as soon as late December or early January.

The trench outside DOWNTOWN Kitchen is the first step to create a sidewalk dining area.

Famed restaurateur Janos Wilder started cutting the asphalt in front of his restaurant on December 9 to extend the pedestrian area into the parking space in front of DOWNTOWN Kitchen.

The sidewalk will wrap around a railing enclosure that will set off an outdoor dining area that will seat about 30 people. Trees already shade the area and Wilder will add planters and heaters.

Sidewalk dining was part of Wilder’s game plan from the outset even before he opened DOWNTOWN Kitchen in October 2010.

“We wanted to get through the first year and see how it was going,” Wilder said. “We waited to get TEP going.”

The new UniSource Energy/Tucson Electric Power headquarters is directly across the street from DOWNTOWN Kitchen.

Sidewalk dining is common in urban centers, especially in hip cities.

“That’s not so much part of my thinking,” Wilder said. “We do need the capacity, particularly during happy hour and pre-performance hours. We do want to create a street life in front of the restaurant.”