The number of enterprises offering summer verandas rose by 15 percent over the past year, signaling a clear shift in how eateries adapt to warmer seasons. The rise in summer residents is closely tied to the expansion of street-table formats, where guests gather outdoors, often beneath the sun or soft evening skies. In this landscape, Voronezh emerged as a standout city, leading growth in such ventures, while Nizhny Novgorod continued to dominate the share of summer verandas, mirroring last year’s pattern. These observations come from a recent market study that surveyed public catering venues across major cities and were summarized for readers of socialbites.ca.
Today, roughly 12,000 workers are employed in the country’s 16 largest urban centers within the catering sector—restaurants, cafes, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, and fast-food outlets. Many of these establishments extend their footprint with summer terraces shaded by awnings or simply outdoor seating that invites passersby to linger during warm days.
From the latest figures, July 2024 shows a 15 percent rise in summer dining spaces in cities with populations over one million compared with July 2023. The availability of open-air dining is now counted at more than 12.3 thousand venues, up from 10.7 thousand in mid-2023, reflecting a broadening appetite for alfresco meals across urban centers.
Among the top performers in gaining more summer diners were Voronezh, up 31 percent year over year, Rostov-on-Don with a 30 percent increase, and Kazan at 27 percent. On the opposite end, Krasnoyarsk recorded only a modest 5 percent uptick in summer catering spaces, underscoring how city-specific factors shape outdoor dining trends.
The surge in summer dining is largely driven by the proliferation of outdoor tables—an option that doesn’t require a canopy or fencing and is particularly attractive to restaurant operators. In mega-cities this season, there were 41 percent more street-table venues than the previous summer. In cities like Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, the practice of serving meals at outdoor tables during the summer months expanded significantly, sometimes severalfold, highlighting a tangible shift in consumer dining preferences.
Moscow and St. Petersburg stand out for their sheer scale: both cities boast thousands of verandas—Moscow surpassing 4,000 and St. Petersburg more than 2,000. The year-over-year growth is notable here as well, with Moscow reporting a 10 percent increase and St. Petersburg a 12 percent rise. Krasnodar remains the closest rival to the capitals in terms of outdoor catering capacity, hosting around a thousand verandas and terraces, which represents roughly a 25 percent increase from the prior year.
When looking at market share, Nizhny Novgorod maintains the largest share of open-air dining, roughly 30 percent, meaning nearly every third venue in the city offers a terrace or outdoor tables. Comparable shares appear in Krasnodar and Kazan, where outdoor-service venues account for about 29 percent and 28 percent respectively. Meanwhile, Krasnoyarsk records the smallest share, with about 5 percent of venues featuring summer terraces.
Even though the capitals have a higher volume of public catering establishments—over 18 thousand in Moscow and St. Petersburg—their outdoor venues account for roughly the same share as other major cities, about 22 percent for verandas in both capitals. This indicates that the density of dining options in Russia’s largest metropolises does not necessarily correlate with an overwhelming dominance of outdoor spaces; rather, it reflects a broader urban dining culture.
Earlier observations point to a growing trend toward simpler, healthier options in restaurant menus, a shift that aligns with evolving consumer tastes and lifestyle choices. This broader movement complements the rise of summer verandas, illustrating how menu strategy and outdoor dining go hand in hand in shaping the modern urban dining experience.