Love Merri-bek, Dine Local

Since October 2020 we’ve helped over 280 cafes, bars and restaurants in Merri-bek to expand outdoor dining as part of their Covid-19 recovery.

The Love Merri-bek, Dine Local program has made Merri-bek a more attractive outdoor dining destination by supporting businesses to serve customers on footpaths, streets, carparks and private land.

2 women sit opposite each other, with a child in between them, on the footpath outside a cafe. There is a wooden structure to protect them from the street.

New State funding announced to extend outdoor trading

The State Government has recently announced another round of funding for councils to extend outdoor trading programs to include hospitality, retail and other services. You can find out more about this on the Love Merri-bek Outdoors project page.

Program review

Early in 2021 we asked for feedback on what worked and what didn't with the Love Merri-bek, Dine Local program. We sought feedback from the community and from businesses.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Of the 256 community members who responded:

  • 75% had used outdoor dining 2 or more times
  • 90% supported continuing outdoor dining
  • 82% were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of outdoor dining

Of the 25 businesses that responded

  • 76% had used outdoor dining
  • 95% of businesses that contacted us for support were satisfied with their experience
  • 92% indicated that they would renew or reimagine their outdoor dining for a 2nd round
  • 73% of businesses saw improved revenue from outdoor dining sales

This feedback helped us improve and extend our outdoor dining program and will inform the Love Merri-bek Outdoors expansion. The program enables us to assist businesses in their recovery and to help the community get back out there and keep Merri-bek vibrant.

Stage 1 engagement summary

We worked closely with Merri-bek's hospitality community to transform our city into an outdoor dining destination. Some of the solutions you'll may have seen around Merri-bek in the past 18 months include:

  • dining on footpaths
  • converting on-street parking to dining areas with parklets
  • laneway and council carpark closures
  • converting vacant private land
  • new food truck and mobile food locations

The Love Merri-bek, Dine Local initiative will support our local businesses to get back on their feet, and will give you a place to catch up with loved ones and celebrate all that we've achieved together during the pandemic.

You can visit lovemoreland.com.au for a list of restaurants offering outdoor dining. If your favourite outdoor dining venue isn’t on the list, you can submit a suggested listing.