Restaurants and cafes in Bendigo will look to get the most they can from their outdoor dining options when restrictions ease with the third step of Victoria's recovery roadmap allowing hospitality businesses to serve patrons outside with group limits of 10 people and social distancing required.

To help restaurants and cafes plan, City of Greater Bendigo council is encouraging business owners to get in touch to discuss potential options for expand their outdoor dining areas further along footpaths, into car parks or possibly using partially closing roads.

Council director of strategy and growth Bernie O'Sullivan said there was a team of staff waiting to help prepare for the long-awaited reopening.

"The first step will be for businesses to call our Business Help Desk and then a staff member will meet with them to discuss various options, as it will be different for each site," he said. "Even if they have never had outdoor dining before, we want to work quickly to help remove red tape. We encourage businesses to think creatively... There are some great examples where 'parklets' (dining spaces in car parks) have been beautifully decorated and really add to the appeal of eating out."

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On Friday, Victoria premier Daniel Andrews said regional Victorians are poised to progress to the next steps of the COVID-19 roadmap.

GPO Bendigo restaurant manager Damian Ellis said he would consider expanding the venue's outdoor dining area.

"It would be good if we could but there is a lot of different variables," he said. "Compared to what it was when we were fully open, (business has) probably dropped around 80 per cent.

"It (nearly got) back to what we normally (when we re-opened). We had to have two or three sittings but our figures were almost back to normal."

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Cantina restaurant manager Kai Cavallaro said any extra space would be helpful in a restaurant's recovery.

"We would love it," he said. "With our limited space, any extra patrons we can get is beneficial for business. The only thing (that would stop us) would be any safety concerns that came with it."

"Last time we opened, we were flat out. We had 20 inside and 15 or so in courtyard with eight out the front. A couple of Saturdays we didn't get out until 2am because it was so hectic."

Mr O'Sullivan said there would be no restrictions on parklet designs as long as they were accessible to emergency services and safe for patrons and people using footpaths and roads.

Businesses will not be charged to expand their outdoor dining after council waived outdoor dining fees in the budget. There will also be no planning permit application fees related to permits for liquor licence extensions within outdoor dining areas. The temporary approvals will remain until June 30, 2021.