Enforcement of a city requirement that some chain restaurants post calorie listings on menus was delayed yesterday by a federal appeals court until it can hear arguments in the case next week.

The city’s Law Department announced late in the day that Judge Robert Katzmann, of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, issued a temporary stay of a lower-court ruling last week finding that the regulation was constitutional.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court will decide on April 29, when it hears arguments, whether to continue the stay, the Law Department said in a release.

In written arguments submitted by the city to the appeals court yesterday, the city argued for a speedy resolution of an appeal by the New York State Restaurant Association, a trade group that represents businesses in the food service industry.

“Each month its implementation is delayed, another 10 million meals are served at chain restaurants in New York City without point of purchase calorie information, further worsening the obesity epidemic and its related health risks,” the city said.

A telephone message left for lawyers for the restaurant association was not immediately returned yesterday.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell ruled that the city requirement was constitutional and might help the city achieve its goal of reducing obesity.

In court papers filed a day earlier, the restaurants argued that the regulation violated the First Amendment and was preempted by the federal Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, which gives restaurants discretion and flexibility in whether or how to present nutrition information.