It was about as beautiful a day as you could ask for: sunny skies, moderate temperatures and a slight breeze.

So, of course Ross Welborn chose to eat outside. But he didn’t have to take a picnic to his local park as he would in most Kansas towns. He went downtown to eat at La Parrilla.

There, in the fenced-in area along the Massachusetts Street sidewalk, Welborn munched on chips while waiting for his enchiladas to arrive.

“I decided I might as well sit outside,” he said. “It’s just as nice outside as in.”

Lawrence diners could have as many as four new outside dining and drinking options in the next few months, continuing a trend that started a decade ago.

Two applications for sidewalk dining — from Zen Zero, 811 Mass., and Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, 1012 Mass. — will be reviewed Thursday night by the city’s Historic Resources Commission. The Lawrence City Commission will consider the applications for final approval April 22.

And city planning officials say they’ve received inquiries from two other businesses to add their own outdoor seating; Au Marche at 21 W. Ninth St. and Signs of Life at 722 Mass.

Kansas University students have made a routine of eating lunch outdoors every week at Aimee's Coffee House, 1025 Mass. Packed around a table of biscuits and gravy on Friday were, clockwise from bottom center, sophomore Mike Britt, Crystal City, Mo.; junior George Manis, Northbrook, Ill.; sophomore Mike Kramer, Omaha, Neb.; sophomore Kendra Doolittle, Lincoln, Neb.; sophomore Philip Conway, Kansas City, Mo.; junior Jill Moritz, Columbia, Mo., and sophomore Jeff Valentino, St. Louis.

“It provides a draw,” said Sandra Day, a city planner. “It’s an expression of how vibrant and lively our downtown is.”

Subarna Bhattachan, one of Zen Zero’s owners, agreed. He also co-owns La Parrilla, where Welborn dined Friday.

“At La Parrilla, we’ve got a positive experience,” he said. “It gives us visibility, and increases our seating, which increases our businesses.”

Sidewalk dining has been available in Lawrence for nearly a decade. Former Commissioner Bob Schumm was the first to offer it, at downtown’s Mass Street Deli in the mid-1990s. A dozen other coffee shops and restaurants have followed suit since.

Downtown officials love it.

“I think it helps create a festive atmosphere,” said Maria Martin, co-director of Downtown Lawrence Inc. “It really does add something to the environment.”

The only requirement: establishments that offer sidewalk dining must make 70 percent of their money from food sales. The requirement prevents bars from offering sidewalk drinking.

Day said city officials may question whether too many more sidewalk permits will be allowed.

“One of the nice things about downtown is our wonderful wide sidewalks,” she said. “This adds an obstruction.”

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But Mayor David Dunfield said he hadn’t heard complaints about sidewalk obstructions. And Bhattachan said sidewalk dining enhances Massachusetts Street.

“I don’t think it’ll clog up the sidewalks,” he said. “I think it’ll give a really nice character to the downtown.”