Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s al fresco dining scheme is launching in Covent Garden this week.
The £300,000 Summer Streets scheme has already seen three locations across London transformed into dedicated outdoor eating and drinking areas in an effort to boost nightlife across the capital.
Covent Garden will be the fourth and final location to launch on August 22 as part of the scheme, joining Brixton, Shoreditch, and Leyton.
St Martin’s Lane is expected to become car-free from 11am to 11pm, with al fresco licenses being granted to up to 34 businesses.
The scheme will run until the end of October, with restaurants such as Fumo, Côte Brasserie, the Real Greek, La Roche, Pizza Express and Browns participating in the scheme.
🌞Sun shining for @SadiqKhan’s Summer Streets in Brixton today! Alfresco on Atlantic Rd - great food, cocktails, dance and music.
— Justine Simons OBE (@justinesimons1) August 9, 2025
✨We’re bringing outdoor dining back to London’s streets. pic.twitter.com/fZf4EyexLn
The scheme has been broadly welcomed, though some restaurants have expressed concerns that the scheme should have been introduced earlier this summer.
Antonio Simonte, general manager at Fumo told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It's been a number of years I have tried to get tables outside. We should have started earlier I believe. It's the end of August.”
Other locations in London have already reaped the benefits of the Summer Streets scheme. In Shoreditch, De Nada, Callooh Callay, Smoking Goat and Bao have all taken advantage of the al fresco dining options, whilst Brixton has seen 400 extra seats outdoors this summer already.
