Starkville City Leaders Discuss Implementing Street Side Cafe In Downtown Area

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)-Business at restaurants in downtown Starkville could soon be spilling out into the streets.

It’s part of a new dining option called Street Side Cafe.

Starkville city leaders are deciding whether to allow restaurants to set up tables in their parking lots to serve patrons outdoors.

The Street Side Cafe is something Moe’s Original BBQ owner Kiel Hebert said he’s definitely in favor of.

“We’re excited about it especially with restaurants being at half capacity, any extra seating is always a good thing,” said Hebert.

Hebert said he thinks this addition could be a revenue generator for his restaurant and bring in more foot traffic to the downtown area.

“That’s one of the big sellers is if you have outdoor seating or not,” said Hebert. “We don’t have any, all of our seating is indoors right now, so the addition of this I think would help out dramatically.”

According to the proposal, only Moe’s Original BBQ, 929 Coffee Bar, and Restaurant Tyler will be able to take part in this temporary dining option.

“We’re taking about nine parking places and making them into an area that can be bounded by planters and some blocks that are colorful, and inside that area we would put small tables and chairs and umbrellas,” said Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill.

Mayor Spruill said all three restaurants will share the nine spaces, which consists of parking places spanning from Moe’s down to Restaurant Tyler.

“I expect it to be impactful in the sense that it’s new and people like to see new things, and it’s kind of different so I think that it’ll be a positive thing,” the mayor said.

In the event city leaders approve this plan, Hebert said his staff is already thinking about ways to adapt to the Street Side Cafe.

“Generally we are fast casual,” the restaurant owner explained. “You come in, you order at the counter, we don’t have a waiting staff but we might implement a wait staff for people sitting outside, and start doing things like that which aren’t in our normal day-to-day operations right now.”

Mayor Spruill said Moe’s Original BBQ, 929 Coffee Bar, and Restaurant Tyler have expressed interest in being a part of the Street Side Cafe.

The proposal is strictly for the three downtown businesses, but there could be a possibility this idea could eventually spread to other areas throughout town.

The board will vote on this matter during Tuesday’s meeting.