Outdoor dining revamp for Melbourne’s Chinatown
Eight laneways in Melbourne’s Chinatown precinct will be closed to traffic on weekends to allow restaurants to serve up yum cha, noodles and more.
Victoria
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Chinatown will be transformed into an outdoor dining mecca in a bid to boost business for local eateries.
Eight laneways in the precinct will be closed to traffic on weekends to give more space for restaurants serving nosh like yum cha and noodles.
The streets include Stevenson, Market, Heffernan and Corrs lanes, Celestial Avenue, Cohen Place and Waratah Place.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said Chinatown was among the city’s first areas to suffer from the impacts of pandemic restrictions.
“So we want to invite people to return to the precinct to dine out now that restrictions have eased further,” she said.
“Expanded outdoor dining means more money going into the cash registers of local businesses and more Melburnians getting back to work.”
City of Melbourne and the Chinatown precinct association have worked together to facilitate outdoor dining as part of the joint $100 million Melbourne City Recovery Fund with the state government.
Melbourne Dai Loong Association president Eng Lim said visitors to Chinatown will also see cultural performances like the drumming of the Melbourne Dai Loong Lions while they dine.
“The surrounds of decorative planter boxes with colourful cherry, plum and peach blossoms gives a cheerful and aesthetic ambience,” she said.
Chinatown Precinct Association president Danny Doon said the precinct was famous for its laneways, and with the innovative idea of parklets.
“Expanding dining outdoors means more seating areas for diners, and more patrons means more support to the local businesses,” he said.
At least 13 laneways will be closed across the whole city each weekend as well as thousands of venues expanding on to footpaths and parklets each day.
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