Covent Garden landlord Capco add an additional 500 al fresco seats for outdoor dining from April 12

Last summer’s 300 covers has been upped to 800 to help support the area’s restaurants
Big draw: the area is home to some of London’s most popular restaurants
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty

Diners hoping for a last-minute reservation may find themselves in luck in Covent Garden as Capco – the company that manages the area – has more than doubled the number of al fresco covers available to restaurants across the area.

In time for restaurants, pubs and bars reopening on April 12, an additional 500 outdoor seats have been added to the main piazza and seven surrounding streets, meaning 800 all-day dining seats will now be available. The change benefits more than 25 restaurants, and ups the number of covers for customers from the 300 of last summer.

Capco say the majority of al fresco tables will be weatherproof, with heaters, parasols and windbreak screens, and the move coincides with more of the area’s streets being pedestrianised, including Henrietta Street, Floral Street, Maiden Lane and Southampton Street. These join the already traffic-free King Street and James Street.

Ahead of full opening in May, the move benefits many of the area’s restaurants, including The Oystermen, Greg Marchand’s Frenchie, Cora Pearl, Da Henrietta and Din Tai Fung, the Taiwainese dumpling favourite that drew four-hour queues when it first opened in late 2018.

The announcement follows the opening of a new picnic space in the east piazza, where diners can sit with takeaway food and drink among more than 1,000 plants that have been brought to the area.

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