The number of summer verandas in the center of St. Petersburg has decreased, but they remain in demand.

As of July 2025, more than 260 catering establishments (restaurants, bars, cafes) with a total capacity of about 15,700 seats are operating in the central locations of St. Petersburg. Only 23% of establishments have summer verandas, which is almost twice as low as in July 2024, when 42% of facilities had a veranda.This is reported by experts of the NF GROUP consulting company.

The average size of the summer veranda has also decreased over the year: if in the summer of 2024 one veranda was designed for an average of about 24 guests, then in July 2025 it was designed for about 15, since the largest terraces in terms of area were previously located on central Avenue.

Restaurants and cafes on the corner sections of Nevsky Prospekt (at intersections with pedestrian or less congested streets) have organized summer seating areas outside the main avenue line to ensure comfortable pedestrian traffic. In addition, in some cases, verandas have been preserved, which were originally built into the facades of buildings or located in courtyards that do not obstruct the flow of people. As a result, the share of enterprises with summer verandas in this location decreased to 5% (for comparison, in the summer of 2024 it was about 38%).

Anna Lapchenko, director of the commercial real estate department at NF GROUP in St. Petersburg, notes: “Summer verandas are an important component for catering establishments: in the warmer months, guests and residents of the city often choose restaurants and cafes with the opportunity to stay outdoors. From the point of view of the restaurant segment development, reducing the number of terraces in central locations, mainly on Nevsky Prospekt, may in the future affect a change in the profile of existing tenants, as the street seating format plays a significant role in attracting visitors.”

According to the expert, in general, St. Petersburg is rightfully considered the gastronomic capital of Russia due to the variety of restaurant concepts. Summer porches have long been an important part of the city’s gastronomic culture and a characteristic feature of the main gastronomic streets of St. Petersburg, and now Rubinstein and Nekrasov streets stand out in particular.

So, on Rubinstein Street, the number of verandas increased by about 25% over the year to 40 verandas (compared to 32 a year earlier). There have been no significant changes on Nekrasova Street: the narrow sidewalks on this street still limit the possibilities for arranging summer playgrounds.

In general, the opening of summer verandas in St. Petersburg provided about 1,000 additional seats in the central locations under consideration by July 2025. This corresponds to an average increase in capacity of about 6% relative to the number of indoor spaces and confirms how much summer terraces remain in demand among visitors and how important they are for increasing attendance at catering establishments.

Источник: www.bsn.ru