SALEM — Is the honeymoon over for outdoor dining?

The city that sees itself as the North End of the North Shore, where cafes line the sidewalks from Townhouse Square to Pickering Wharf, is starting to sound a little like the diner who found a fly in his soup.

Or maybe it's simply that different city officials view the matter from different seats.

Dining alfresco, a concept enthusiastically endorsed by everyone from Mayor Kim Driscoll to Chamber of Commerce Director Rinus Oosthoek, is starting to raise a few eyebrows on the City Council.

The issue has come to a head over Tavern in the Square, the 300-seat restaurant that has been drawing large crowds since opening a few weeks ago at the old Salem Evening News site.

The hip sports bar with the open windows is seeking approval to construct an 88-seat outdoor cafe on an adjacent, unused area of grass and trees.

Several city councilors, while saying they support the trend of outdoor dining, raised serious concerns this week about the tavern's plans. They even talked about adopting an outdoor cafe ordinance and charging fees to use city sidewalks and green space.

Councilors Steve Pinto, Bob McCarthy and Jerry Ryan — two other councilors, they said, couldn't make it — showed up at a meeting of the Salem Redevelopment Authority to voice concerns about cutting down trees to construct the outdoor area for Tavern in the Square, about the legal liability that could arise from waiters carrying food and drinks across a public sidewalk to reach the small green space, and about allowing the restaurant to use city land at no cost.

"They're going to fix up that area, but they're getting it for free," Ryan said. "... They're going to make money off it. I think we should get money off it."

The city of Cambridge, which hosts two Taverns in the Square, charges restaurants $750 a year to use city sidewalks, Pinto said.

Pinto didn't like it when the proposed cafe site at the corner of New Derby and Washington streets was referred to as "open space."

"It's not open space," he said. "No taxpayer is going to be able to go in there."

Pinto made his comments while hustling back and forth between the SRA meeting and a tree warden's hearing on cutting down two crab apple trees and one small oak to build this outdoor cafe.

Technically, the restaurant would remove only two trees, since tree warden Rick Rennard has declared one crab apple tree a hazard and ordered it cut down.

One citizen showed up to protest.

"I derive aesthetic pleasure from those trees," John Hayes, a geography professor at Salem State College, said after the hearing. "I would feel a profound sense of loss."

Rennard is expected to issue a ruling next week.

Tavern in the Square owner Joey Arcari said he will replace any trees that are removed and plant more if the city wants.

Arcari said he plans to spend $75,000 to create an outdoor dining area with trees, flowers, shrubs, heaters and seating for 88. In the off-season, it can be converted into public space with benches, he said.

As several officials have noted, this "green space" was a former homeless haven often strewn with trash. Even now, it is not exactly a public park, one official said.

"Nobody goes there and lays a blanket for a picnic," SRA Chairman Michael Brennan said.

The SRA, a strong supporter of outdoor dining, postponed its decision on Tavern in the Square for two weeks to let the tree warden make his ruling and to allow the City Council to discuss the issue next week.

In other action, the SRA, with little debate, approved a city request to put four tables and 12 chairs next to a fountain on the Essex Street pedestrian mall. It's for the crowds that come downtown and want to sit outside, they were told.

"I'm all for it," Brennan said.