Get out and eat!

Springtime -- the birds sing in the blooming trees, a warm breeze blows over red and yellow tulips, and lawn chairs sprout up on the sidewalks like dandelions in an open field.\nSpring marks the beginning of many restaurants' outdoor seating seasons, and the added environmental seating often brings in curious customers passing by on the streets.\nPete Smith, current owner of the Laughing Planet Café, said the restaurant has had outdoor seating since 1997. Their large patio with multi-colored tables is usually filled with diners, pedestrians and even dogs at times.\n"It's a big part of our business, especially in the summer," he says. "It adds another third to our seating. It's a little more work, but worth it." \nLaughing Planet's outdoor seating, a large wooden deck overlooking the intersection of Kirkwood and Grant, opens as soon the temperature rises.\n"(We open) as soon as it's warm enough," Smith said. "I think there were some days in February we had it open."\nSummer also brings fresher produce and outdoor movies to Laughing Planet. Smith says Laughing Planet uses locally grown produce from the Farmer's Market, which opened this month, and Ryder films are shown on the deck on Monday nights in the summer.\nWhere Laughing Planet has a multitude of colorful outdoor seating opportunities, Nick's English Hut has just three table-and-chair sets squeezed in tightly next to its front doors. The lack of tables, however, doesn't mean the limited outdoor seating limits business. Manager Kevin Burkett said that in season, those are the most popular tables.\n"It's kind of deceiving," he said. "We only have three outside tables, but inside we stay pretty busy."\nCity ordinances prevent Nick's from expanding their outdoor seating, but Burkett says the few tables out there are always full.\n"People just come to graze, and they sit for four hours," he says.\nThe Village Deli, just down the block from Nick's, was able to expand it's outdoor seating area when it acquired the space where Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream used to be. With the Village Deli serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, front of house manager Nate Smith said they try to have their patio open as much as possible.\n"I notice a lot of people enjoy sitting down and eating outside," he says. "I don't understand why more people don't do it."\nThe Runcible Spoon may have had its outdoor seating longer than almost any other restaurant in Bloomington. Current owners Regen Ton and Matt O'Neal say the garden is of Japanese origin, and was designed by the only American to receive an advanced degree in Japanese landscaping, David Slawsen. The area is fenced off by ropes, and the tables are permanently mounted in stone pathways. There are hidden fountains behind bushes, and the area is spacious, with plenty of room between tables.\nO'Neal claims the area has the appearance of an understated garden boat. \n"The trees are like sails," he says. "People like it without knowing about it."\nTon said the outdoor seating is popular, in part, because of its serenity.\n"It's not on the main drag, so there's not much traffic," she said. "It gets used a lot."\nSome of the artwork in and around the Spoon was created by longtime patrons. O'Neal says the fish pond in the back of the restaurant was put in by a patron while the original owner was on vacation. He returned from vacation to find an old coffee boiler sitting on top of a wooden koi pond. The boiler had been turned into a fountain, with water spurting out of the pipe on top and from the two spigots on the front.\nKilroy's on Kirkwood is another popular outdoor eating hangout. Spring IU graduates Dan Wilmes and Dan Howell said they enjoy the outdoor experience with their friends.\n"Kilroy's is the best place to dine outside," Wilmes says.\n"The best part is the foot traffic," Howell added. "You get to watch people."\nKilroy's has a prime location for people watching. Located right outside the Sample Gates, Kilroy's is either the first stop for IU students beginning their bar crawl, or they pass it on their way someplace else. While watching everyone go by, the friends watch people, comment on cute dogs, and critique the passing fashions. Since rising temperatures also bring with them falling necklines and shorter shorts, the guys take the time to talk to some of the female pedestrians.\n"Occasionally girls stop and talk to me, but then they usually move on," Howell says.\nHowever, graduate Andrew Teschida brought up one good point that will eventually affect everyone, in some fashion, that eats outside.\n"I had a green fluorescent bug on my chest once"