Leicester Square has nearly 1,000 seats for al fresco dining.  In order to achieve this every year Heart of London facilitate and fund a planning application on behalf of 30 businesses in and around Leicester Square.

This planning application currently enables extended areas of seating on the South and West side of Leicester Square and allows for businesses to apply for a license to serve food in their outdoor seating areas until 1am.  In a user perception survey 86% of respondents said the al fresco dining made a positive difference to the appearance of the area and 90% said al fresco dining should continue.

As al fresco dining makes a significant contribution to the ambience and dining experience, we have looked to further improve the offer available to visitors to the square by working with the businesses on the East side of Leicester Square (Pizza Hut, Chiquito’s, Bella Italia, Wetherspoon’s and Yates’s).  Towards the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 we compiled plans from each business and completed and funded a joint application on their behalf to extend the al fresco areas.  The application, determined by Westminster City Council planning subcommittee on 25th June 2009, was approved and the extended areas are now in use.

Click here to download our January 2010 report on Al Fresco dining (60.49KB)