Poll: What do you think of Alexandria restaurants swapping parking for outdoor seating?

Royal Restaurant, now under new ownership, is the latest Alexandria restaurant to seek permission to swap out some of its parking space for more outdoor seating.

The restaurant is hoping to trade 10 parking spaces for 60 outdoor seats. Another 30 seats will be added to an alley on the west side of the building.

The proposal would add an elevated deck outside the building on part of the parking lot.

Royal Restaurant isn’t the first to trade parking space for outdoor seating, several restaurants have turned parking areas into outdoor seating.

Outdoor seating took off in Alexandria during Covid, and the city has been working to make it easier for restaurants to make temporary outdoor seating permanent.

Reception to the change was mixed in the comments and on social media.

“Glad the restaurant is ‘evolving’,” one commenter said. “However I loved the small-town neighborhood feel of the restaurant… The parking really helped us. My parents are in their 80s and look forward to going to Royals. The changes will be hard for them.”

“How unfortunate,” a commenter on Facebook said, “parking was a major perk at the Royal since street parking options are limited.”

But others said the trade-off was a “no-brainer” and noted that there’s often ample street parking on N. St. Asaph Street and nearby streets.

“An additional 90 seats for paying customers at the expense of only a few parking spaces is a no-brainer,” one commenter said.

Image via Google Maps