Hale Street Tents are back and so is outdoor summer dining in Wheaton

In what has quickly become a rite of summer, the Hale Street Tents are back, providing an outdoor dining oasis in downtown Wheaton for a fifth season.

For the next five months, the block of Hale Street between Front and Wesley Streets will be closed to vehicle traffic and converted into an al fresco dining zone with two massive tents providing space for eight local eateries.

The Downtown Wheaton Association started the program in 2020 to help local restaurants during the pandemic.

“Very few good things came out of COVID, but the tents are definitely one of them,” said Allison Orr, executive director of the Downtown Wheaton Association.

Now that it has become an ongoing campaign, the organization has partnered with the city to purchase tents to avoid costly rental fees. The city also helps with setup and teardown.

Eight Hale Street restaurants will have space under the tents, each with its own tables, chairs, decor and staff. This year’s participating restaurants include Altiro Latin Fusion, The Burger Social, Egg'lectic Café, Gia Mia, Hale Street Cantina, Ivy and Moveable Feast + Company. New Bien Trucha Group restaurant Sweetchilango will join the lineup after their anticipated opening in June.

“A lot of our restaurants are discovered over the summer by people dining in one place but seeing food from another restaurant come out right next to them and saying, ‘Oh, that looks really good,’” Orr said.

Ivy is bringing something new to the table, err tent, this summer, adding a full bar outside for patrons. Owner Dick O’Gorman and his staff were putting it all together Wednesday morning, including the addition of a nearly 150-year-old piano that will serve as part of the bar top.

“We wanted to mix it up a little bit and bring something fresh out this year,” O’Gorman said. “It will be a nice place to grab a drink and enjoy the scene.”

The full-liquor bar will have more than a dozen seats and offer seven beers on tap.

The tents will be home to numerous summer events, including the Craft Beer Crawl on June 29 and the Summer Wine Walk on Aug. 22. A summer music series with more than 40 performers will provide live entertainment for diners from May through September.

Oct. 6 is the last day for the tents, the day after they house the annual chili cookoff.

Innovator Capital Management, a firm based on Hale Street, is sponsoring the tents. Restaurants are now taking outdoor dining reservations.