In May 2021, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, through the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Choose Chicago, launched Chicago Alfresco as an integral part of the push for more neighborhood tourism and a pillar of the City’s broader initiative to open streets and create places for dining, public life, community, arts, culture, walking, and biking. The initial phase of the program focused on project proposals by community organizations interested in creating active community spaces that promote outdoor dining or highlight community-focused placemaking and support community identity. The next phase of this program aims to incorporate parks to extend this reach and broaden this impact.

Thanks to generous financial support from the City of Chicago, a limited number of Chicago Parks Alfresco Dining Grants will be awarded to park restaurant concessionaires for projects that increase outdoor dining opportunities to the public.