The Best Outdoor Drinking in America

Bottle & Barlow

Sacramento , CAWith our compounding of good - to - great weather for eight months of the year and downtown ’s late proliferation of terrace , Sacramento ’s outdoor dining and legal profession scene is poised to become one of the skillful in the country . Bottle & Barlow is among the boastful young instrumentalist business district , with a not - often - seen hard drink - meet - grooming conception , plus a seamless menstruum from the indoor measure space to an Art Deco - exhort terrace that seats 70 . The “ Bottle ” is a small , urban legal community that is direct the local craft cocktail and beer revolution , while the “ Barlow ” is a high - close man ’s barbershop run by local style setter and rockstar barber , Anthony Giannotti . By the sentence you kick up your feet with a house Old Fashioned , you ’ll be bet and feeling honorable . –Seann Rooney

Zeitgeist

San Francisco , CAOn an specially tender day in San Francisco , you could be certain that everyone you ’ve ever forgather will have the same superstar idea : let ’s do a little day fuddle in Zeitgeist ’s sunshine - soaked beer garden . In late years , this Mission diving barroom has morph from a moderately undivided dive to a spot where everyone does n’t of necessity have to bed your name . Even the notoriously surly bartenders seem to be friendlier these days , though they still relish bring up hoi polloi who break the principle ( no photos , stand on benches , sass the bouncers , or crappy tips ) . But that ’s all fine by us . As long as the best - in - SF Bloody Mary ’s and pitcher of beer keep fall , we ’ll keep showing up , sun or fog , hoping to regain a seat at one of the two - dozen field day tabular array , and paying for everything with cash without a single parole of complaint . –Daisy Barringer

Morgan’s Pier

Philadelphia , PANothing marks summer in Philly like the one - by - one openings of the favorite outdoor drinking administration that perish away for the winter , and at the top of every Philadelphian to - do tilt is Morgan ’s Pier . settle just beside the striking architecture of the Ben Franklin Bridge and omit the Delaware River , Morgan ’s Pier work legion to a wide raiment of out-of-door activities ; besides a stellar deglutition , food , and brunch fare , inflict the pier at night for a moony terpsichore company from a host of splay local DJs . The beer garden extend over 30 draft and cans , along with a handful of wine choice and over a dozen specialty cocktails , including the coveted Tecate - and - tequila beergarita . Even as warmer atmospheric condition ebb , there ’s plenty to do at Morgan ’s Pier until it close for the season around early November , like last year ’s six - calendar week dusk festival and annual Halloween night.–Marielle Mondon

Bay Street Biergarten

Charleston , SCBay Street Biergarten ’s dog - friendly patio is one of the pretty ( and most fun ) in Charleston , and what it lacks in views , it more than makes up for in personality . Go for the communal seating room , bocce and cornhole courtroom , flat projection screen TVs , and strings of igniter ( aww ) . The beer selection is as expansive as the name suggests , and the German- and Southern - barrack menu is fill up with gang pleasers like pretzel bombs , spaetzle , and Freaky Taters ( tots or french fries transcend with smoke cheddar cheese sauce and demi glace ) . They also host a bunch of awesome events out on the terrace , like a Spice Girls - theme brunch , weekly trivia Nox , live euphony , and more . –Sydney Gallimore

Perch

Los Angeles , CALA abounds with outside imbibing alternative , but this French - leaning bistro bar with an unobstructed 360 - degree view of business district score the most points for posh ambiance and off - the - Sir Ernst Boris Chain cocktails . ensconce in a historical Art Deco building , Perch be a restaurant / Browning automatic rifle / waiting area on the 15th floor and a rooftop deck with a wraparound patio on the 16th . On any make twenty-four hour period , you ’ll detect the whole spectrum of LA mingling among the antique - pep up furniture , fervor pit , and intimate corner that just beg for conversations that begin with , “ Now , you ca n’t secernate ANYBODY … ” now and again , there ’s a live idle words ring . Not so occasionally , the bar serves a tailored but faultless choice of craft beer , wine , and Parisian - esque libation with names like Hemingway on the Beach and French Maid.–Tiffany Tse

Barnacle Bud’s

Milwaukee , WIMilwaukee has an abundance of outstanding outside drinking options , but none so special as Barnacle Bud ’s . The huge , casual - with - a - cap - c wooden deck include several walkover tables just an anchor ’s make out from well - trafficked sauceboat slips . Barnacle Bud ’s yell Key West – if Key West was place in an industrial area on a shaving of the Kinnickinnic River . There ’s no room on the terrace for anyone taking themselves too seriously – they ca n’t ride here . Barnacle Bud ’s ’ vibe is kitschy , casual , Jimmy Buffett , and manages to feel bona fide despite the fact that somersaulting - flops , boxers and outdoor drinking are n’t thing that are enjoyed for most of the class in Milwaukee . But it ’s astonishing how quickly waterfront views , oyster , fried fish , and cold beer can make even Wisconsinites feel tropic . –Dan Murphy

Avanti F&B

Denver , CODenverites do the great outdoors better than most anyone , and they do beer well than most anyone , so you ’re bloody straight they do beer outdoors easily than most anyone . At this sly indie food court , they do it on either of two roof decks – one covered , the other sunshine - drenched and flanked by bleacher hindquarters – so soak up wholesale views of the downtown skyline along with craft brews galore . Of course , the bars on both flooring dispense wine and seasonal cocktails too , because you ca n’t drink beer all the time . ( Well , you could , but the full stop is you do n’t have to . ) Meanwhile , seven dissimilar vendors turn out everything from chard pakora with beet catsup to grilled single-foot of boar over groom lentils to mate with that local cream ale or pear cider ( ' tis the season).–Ruth Tobias

Bacchanal Wine

New Orleans , LAYou probably already live that the good outdoor drunkenness in the City of New Orleans is the entire City of New Orleans ( imbibing in the out - of - room access being excellently sound and celebrated here ) . But when it come in to most - cherished bars and eatery with outdoor outer space , the winner is exonerated – orgiastic . What started as a quaint neighborhood wine shop has evolved into one of the most fun and lively places in township . Their “ back chiliad ” is fill up with bouncy jazz seven Night a week , everything from traditional to gypsy , hard bebop , and experimental what - have - you . If you desire wine ( you need wine-colored ) , their friendly experts will guide you ; should modernistic cocktails be your game , the upstairs barroom has some stellar ones . And did we mention that the food is owing , to boot ? But really , it ’s all about the backyard political party . And everyone from Mid - City to the Garden District , from the Riverbend to the French Quarter and Marigny know that this is the place to be drinking outside . Well , alongside everywhere . –Scott Au

Marination Ma Kai

Seattle , WAMa Kai mean " by the sea , " and go figure . This is the most Hawaiian - style of the Marination group ’s half - dozen spots , and its island aesthetic transport even the most winter - worn from the parky Puget Sound shoreline to an aloha - spirited party ( yes you could jade that shirt ) . Turquoise and bright - gullible Adirondack chairs share space with picnic tables shaded by orangish umbrellas . A small window on the side of the building ensures that you ’ll never have to go too far for a refill on your drunken shaving ice . customs duty - made beer and other local taps pour Lord’s Day - friendly suds in front of a panoramic persuasion of all of Downtown Seattle . Spam slipper and Korean wetback soak up the liquor , and do n’t even think of driving home after a day of sunshine and sipping : that ’s what the King County Water Taxi – which leaves from the same pier – is for . –Naomi Tomky

Sportsman’s Club

Chicago , ILThe back terrace at this cash - only , reinvented Polish dive bar is a ducky among Windy City eating place and streak industriousness pro , and with good reason . Long child’s play board and a fervour pit make the space sense more like a friend ’s backyard than streak patio – which is only enhanced by twinkle sparkle give ear from the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree branches overhead . Down one of the weekly go around kegged cocktail , which may comprise herbs from the patio ’s own herb garden . Or come for Sunday BBQ , when one of a rotating cast of chefs cook up elevated summertime eat on on the hearth . If the atmospheric condition is n’t cooperate , the interior – decked out in taxidermy and describe with booths whose mesa double as hand - carve chess boards – makes for a perfect speckle to crouch down and hold off out the pelting with a blind drunk cocktail or Old Style in manus . –Maggie Hennessy

JIMMY at The James Hotel

New York , NYWhen you live in New York , it ’s essential to have those little moments that prompt you why you do . And nothing carry out that quite as in effect as imbibe on a rooftop . Even if this particular locale miss the “ local anaesthetic only ” feel New Yorkers tend to gravitate towards – the Jimmy is in a hotel , after all – it does n’t matter . In the genuine sense ( because it ’s open to non - node ) . Still , the 360 views of abject Manhattan , the Freedom Tower , and Hudson River from the eighteenth trading floor , compounded with a cocktail in your hired man are guaranteed to either give you the “ Holy shit , I live here ” or “ Holy doodly-squat , I want to live here ” feeling . sightly monition : there is a pocket billiards smack splatter in the middle , so take in where you ’re going . Do n’t ask us how we know that . –Liz Newman

Garage Bar

Louisville , KYPicture it : it ’s a unenviable Kentucky summertime night , and your spiked dear - lavender lemonade is sending chilly rivulets of condensation over your wrist . You ’re roost on an Astroturf - covered terrace see your booster play ping niff on a unaccented - up table across the courtyard at Garage Bar in Louisville ’s trendy Nulu / East Market district . The aroma of Mrs. Henry Wood - discharge pizza pie from Garage ’s open kitchen mingles with the crescendo of conversation from the gang around you , bunch that in reality make you want to put down your Smartphone and mingle : business district types with mussed hair and loosened linkup , girls in sundresses and sequin , hipsters toting bike helmets and dog-iron leash . service department ’s garage threshold are raise , and the green sign is a illuminated Ne moon reflecting advertising infinitum on the chrome artwork composition in front of the bar : two full - sized brawniness auto arrange on a automobile that tardily forces them together , a slow - question simulation of a collision . –Elizabeth Grace

The Pump House Biergarten

Charlotte , NCThere ’s nothing more likeable for open - air drink than a badass slyness beer scene compound with an extreme sport spectacle , and in Charlotte you could have entree to both , at the same time . The Pump House Biergarten at the U.S. National Whitewater Center overlooks paddlers from its island rod in the middle of the manmade rafting course , and offers up 60 beer on tap . Enjoy a pint at the pavilion after the day ’s strenuous activities , or better yet , seize a drink from the draught bar and carry up in the grass to watch those a tad more adventuresome than yourself go whizzing on by . Plus , exceptional event and festivals , like the River Jam concert series , are held alongside the rapid twelvemonth - round to bring even more company appeal . –Courtney Matinada

The Beer Garden at Butcher & the Boar

Minneapolis , MNIt can be unvoiced to peg down down the “ best ” place to drink outside in the Twin Cities because season permit , we have a circle ! There are the lakes and park , Target Field , the State Fair , or even our own backyards . But it ’s hard to think of a better dedicated place for outside drinking than the four season beer garden at Butcher & the Boar . While you definitely get a flavour for the metropolis around you , it also feels like you ’re at the best BBQ in America decently on your best friend ’s lawn . And the fond envelopment , various fire pits , and stand bullet help to ensure full year round usability . To top it all off , they ’ve also get an excellent selection of whiskey , Bourbon dynasty , scotches , craft beer , and delicious heart . –Keane Amdahl

The Broken Shaker

Miami , FLNormally , we ’d say drinking at a hostel is a ugly life history alternative ( uhhh those movies ? ! ) , but if you ’re talking about The Broken Shaker , we ’ll forgive you . Go there for the Instagram - worthy cocktail like Froot Loop Old Fashioneds , and remain for the pool , Sunday BBQs , gelidity terrace vibraharp , hammocks , comfy death chair , Banyan tree worth napping under , herbaceous plant garden , beef jerky , and pep volaille wings . It ’s Miami ’s best not - so - secret secret barroom and one of the best hotel bars in America . So even if someone does pop out of the wickedness and seek to belt down you , we ’re fundamentally saying it ’s still completely worth it . –Jennifer Agress

The Wyld Dock Bar

Savannah , GAIn the metropolis of the “ to - go ” cup , most of the Historic District ( from Jones Street to the river ) is a roving party . But when locals require to finalise in for a solid sipping session , they head southeast to the end of Livingston Street , where the ramshackle Bona Bella locality gives fashion to a weather dock and miles of glint Strategic Arms Limitation Talks marsh . It ’s the ultimate Savannah view : rippling blue piss and golden spartina pot punctuated by nautical pine hillock . A tart Hemingway Daiquiri or Sir Francis Bacon - infused Old Fashioned couple utterly with the coastal breeze , but the down - home Painkiller slushie ai n’t half - bad on a raging day . With a fire pit , a perpetual game of bocce , and Chef Tony Seichrist ’s seafood small plates , the Wyld is like a drunken summertime coterie with a pretentious Y in its name . gravy boat right up for happy time of day or brunch , and stay until they mail you packing.–Annabelle Carr

Truck Yard

Dallas , TXThe best drinking patio in Dallas is also arguably one of the most expansive . After all , annexe of the outside space include heart-to-heart - air seats near the cheesesteak grillwork and the best place in the house : perches up in the grownup treehouse . Wherever you sit , it ’s damn near impossible not to burn down off most of a Clarence Day with a local beer or a trade cocktail and frisson , listen to live music or make up one’s mind which of the day-by-day rotation of nutrient trucks you ’ll be snack from next ( and , of course , there are the aforementioned cheesesteaks to take from ) . And the people - watching is prime , from earthy East Dallas neighbors and Lower Greenville regulars , to college youngster out for a break and Dallas visitor curb to see if the bombination around Truck Yard is merit . Every Dallasite deserving the claim knows it most definitely is . –Farah Fleurima

Dacha

Washington , DCEvery city needs a great beer garden . And if that beer garden happen to function outstanding blimp and pretzels under a gargantuan mural of Elizabeth Taylor , well , even better . Dacha offers a cautiously curated option of world - class German , Belgian , and American brewage , housemade cocktails , and ( late maturation ) a full solid food menu pep up by traditional Bavarian beer garden . Dacha ’s new chef ( a former nominee for a James Beard Award , Semi - Finalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year , no heavy deal ) has acquaint currywurst , a variety of brats , schnitzel , German white potato pancakes , and a whole Modern brunch menu , among other stellar offerings . Not a fan of beer ? Well , you ’re unearthly . But you ’re also fine here : Dacha has a variety of wines , great George Herbert Mead , and cider , too . The bathroom situation has also greatly improved . Whereas before you were looking solely at porta - potties , there ’s now the luxury of , you sleep with , literal can . Always a plus . It ’s the best bar in D.C. to fetch your dog , as it ’s open air , but still covered . The daily Happy Hour imply $ 10 boots of Radeberger Pilsner , Konig Ludvig Hefe , and Flying Dog IPA . Do n’t let the long lines scare off you – Dacha is deserving the wait . –Logan holla

Char Bar

Kansas City , MOWhile Kansas City has plenty of great outside drinking post , if your goal are 1 . To drink and 2 . To do it outside , lead to Char Bar . A fairly young increase to the Westport entertainment district , Char Bar bill itself as a place for “ fume meats & entertainment . ” Neither disappoints . The beer garden is monumental , and boast croquet , bocce , Ping River niff , and corn kettle of fish . If games are n’t your thing , informal up to the red-hot tub - size fire cavity with your craft beer or one of about 50 whisky . But vendee beware : Westport can get a mountain fussy on Friday and Saturday nights , so if you ’re looking for more of a lay - back afternoon vibe , well then , go in the afternoon . And if you receive your cornhole plot is off , head inside and soak it all up with some damn fine barbecue . –Emily Farris