> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Food for thought on Third St - URL: https://www.smdp.com/food-for-thought-on-third-st/ - Published: 2006-05-03T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T17:41:11.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Business, Promenade, #archive-import *New law puts diners in middle of things, but some get bad taste in mouths* THIRD STREET PROMENADE — Looking to add a little spice to the dining experience here, elected leaders have approved a law allowing restaurants to set up seating in the middle of the promenade. Under the new measure, outdoor dining would be confined to areas immediately adjacent to the north and south pavilions — the small commercial spaces located in the middle of the promenade that currently house a clothing bou-tique, juice bar and chocolate shop. At present, outdoor dining occurs informally at the end of the north pavilion where owners of the juice bar have set out plastic chairs. Formalizing the area for outdoor dining, city staff said, would make it possible for restaurants to serve alcohol and give the area a more unified look. “We are very happy with the council’s decision,” said Miriam Mack, director of economic development and resource management, which has been working with a French restaurant owner looking to set up shop at the north pavilion. “We’ve been trying to add more outdoor dining seats for some time now … There is no other way to look at it, outdoor dining is clearly a benefit and an important element of the Third Street Promenade.” The law, approved last week by the City Council in a 4-2 vote, is one of three elected leaders are considering over the next few months that are intended to preserve and increase the number of seats available for outdoor dining. The council has tried for decades to strike a proper balance between retail, restaurants and street performers, all of which officials say contribute equally to the unique spirit of the promenade. This desire led to the formation of a Promenade Use Task Force in 2002, which was comprised of current and former councilmembers, business leaders and city staff. The task force recommended changes to current zoning to allow for outdoor dining at the pavilions, the center courts between the promenade’s dinosaur fountains, and extending dining to the edge of the sidewalk in front of a given restaurant. Councilmembers Kevin McKeown and Ken Genser said they are in favor of increasing outdoor dining where appropriate, but did not vote for the pavilion option out of fear that the law would dramatically change the face of the promenade and erode the level of affordability for hungry visitors. Upon learning that a French restaurant offering fine wine and cheese would most likely be the first businesses to operate at the north pavilion under the law, Genser and McKeown questioned whether or not the expansion was going to be a benefit if it meant losing more affordable restaurants like the juice bar and chocolate shop, both of which have leases that expire this year. “I’m reacting somewhat to what seems to me to be a very unclear process on how we selected, and under what criteria we selected,” Genser said prior to voting against the pavilion expansion. “I’m concerned we are moving more towards the promenade serving a less diverse population and more of an upscale, more exclusive dining population. For those of us who go back a way, we remember the old food court that had really affordable food. Now it seems the only thing affordable left is McDonalds.” Free speech activist Jerry Rubin, who spends nearly every day on the promenade, said allowing pavilion dining would erode informal outdoor seating at the north pavilion, where people can sit for free. “We are about to lose dozens of public seating where people would have a cup of coffee, sit and people watch or just enjoy the breeze,” Rubin said. “This is just going to be a public extension of a private space, and I don’t think that’s right.” If restaurants at the pavilions plan to sell alcohol, they would be required to build some form of barrier to prevent patrons’ tables or chairs from slipping off the raised sidewalks on which the pavilions are situated. This troubled McKeown, who felt the barriers would disrupt the flow of traffic through the promenade. “You’d essentially have a fence in the middle of a public street,” he said. The majority of councilmembers viewed the situation differently, saying Monsieur Marcel and other restaurants like it would add a new dimension to the promenade, without adding a significant cost to visitors. “This is an exciting opportunity for us to bring in something unique, something different, and I think we ought to give it a shot,” Holbrook said. “Restaurants have a tough time affording rents along the promenade and outdoor dining is a way for them to maximize their space and stay in business, which is important to the survival of the promenade, because people don’t just come here to shop. They come here to eat too.” Stephane Strouk, the owner of Monsieur Marcel, was “delighted” to learn of the council’s decision. His application to operate at the north pavilion is scheduled to go before the Architectural Review Board within the coming weeks for review. “This will be a great addition to the promenade, not only visually but qualitatively,” said Strouk, who currently operates out of the Fairfax Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, offering wine and cheese tastings. “Visually, you won’t have to see those plastic chairs out there anymore. It will look like a little cafe in Paris. It is my hope that we can add some more culture to the promenade and give people something different, help them discover their palette.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 3, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)