The City of Chicago’s Extended Outdoor Dining (EOD) initiative has been extremely popular during the COVID-19 pandemic in neighborhoods like the West Loop and Fulton Market, providing local restaurants with additional streetside space to boost their business and patrons with a safer option to dine out. When Taylor Johnson client the West Central Association Chamber of Commerce (WCA), which has been instrumental in expanding EOD while serving as an advocate to its many restaurant clients in the area, expressed concerns that the program would not be extended to the fall and winter, we went to the Chicago Tribune’s Lauren Zumbach with a pitch on the program’s future and its importance to the neighborhood. Read more here in the resulting article that features commentary from WCA Executive Director Rod Burch and several executives from the restaurant groups the organization serves.  Open TJ TALK for the full story.

WCA Executive Director Rod Burch and restaurant owners in the West Loop and Fulton Market discuss the Extended Outdoor Dining program and its importance to the neighborhood. Photo credits: West Central Association (WCA) Chamber of Commerce