With the weather, um, warming up (come on weather! warm up!), thoughts turn to enjoying your Capitol Hill chow and libations in the open air. With the transition in permitting sidewalk seating from the Department of Planning to the Seattle Department of Transportation and a streamlined application process, pretty much every Hill food and drink establishment fronting a sidewalk eventually adds summer seating. Here’s a rundown of the latest in Hill outdoor dining news. Let us know if you’ve seen any permit notices or guerrilla efforts we’ve missed.

• Fresh from the DPD filings, Tavern Law has applied for a permit for a sidewalk cafe of unspecified dimensions on 12th Ave. It will surely be the first secret speakeasy in history to have sidewalk seating. Farther down 12th across Madison, Licorous Bar & Lounge has also applied to join the sidewalk club.

Rancho Bravo’s future patio

• Rancho Bravo doesn’t need sidewalk. In its first years of existence, it has had an empty dirt patch out front. Last summer, we heard they were planning to transform the space into a patio. This summer, the work has begun. Fellow ‘hood blog Wallyhood can tell you who is doing the work, by the way.
• More sidewalk seating on Broadway? The newly re-branded Panevino Tratorria replacing Zhivago’s Cafe has applied for a sidewalk permit before its doors have opened. They’re aiming for an opening next week, by the way.
• Unicorn co-owner Paul Blake tells us Pike/Pine’s most colorful circus bar has applied for a 175-square foot sidewalk cafe permit. He’s hoping to start putting chairs out in about two weeks.
• You have until June 21 to submit comments on The Buck’s application to add sidewalk seating at its E Olive Way home. Given the slope of the hill at that location, you’ll want to keep all four chair legs on the ground, thank you very much.
• We’ve reported that Melrose Market will add sidewalk seating when Homegrown Sandwiches opens later this month.
• Also reported: Six Arms has a permit for sidewalk seating at Pike and Melrose. Now that the sidewalk repairs are finished, they might actually be able to use the permit.
• CHS advertiser Thomas St. Bistro’s new patio is complete and ready for you to enjoy it.

We also know that sidewalk seating isn’t always a good thing for everybody. If there’s a set-up causing an issue, talk with the restaurant. And if that doesn’t work out, take it to SDOT:

Problems with encroaching into the sidewalk will be handled by SDOT – they can be reached at 206-684-5283 from 8AM to 5PM during the work week. SDOT has the right to require immediate changes if a sidewalk café has encroached beyond its permitted area, and may revoke an approved sidewalk café permit if there is an ongoing problem.