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A lavish dining area with a retractible roof.
Dining with a retractible roof at Twenty Three Grand.
Nikolas Koenig/Twenty Three Grand

15 Places to Dine Outside in Manhattan Right Now

A guide to easy-to-get outdoor seats as well as perfect perches for spring dining al fresco

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Dining with a retractible roof at Twenty Three Grand.
| Nikolas Koenig/Twenty Three Grand

Outdoor dining is in full swing and there’s a wide array of options, from tucked-away seating to sidewalk see-and-be-seen options and plenty of sheltered areas, should a sprinkle roll through. Here are 15 outdoor spots for peak summer.

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Harlem Tavern

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This neighborhood restaurant and beer garden has a large red tent setup that is well-suited for group hangs (it seats about 40). Stop by the covered patio rain or shine to order from this Harlem spot’s extensive menu of pub fare like Buffalo chicken wraps, steak tacos, and fried green tomato flatbreads.

Chef Ari Bokovza’s buzzy restaurant showcases eastern Mediterranean fare in a breezy indoor-outdoor dining room as well as a 30 outdoor dining patio. Diners are transported to a garden with lots of plants, green leather benches, and ornate chandeliers. Don’t miss the flatbreads and mezze to start.

Outdoor dining at Dagon, a long table lit by chandeliers and protected from the rain.
Outdoor dining at Dagon.
Dagon

Fresco by Scotto

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Family-run Fresco by Scotto — from matriarch Marion Scotto and daughters Elaina, who runs the restaurant and Rosanna, who assists (and is also an anchor on Fox 5 NY)— makes a Midtown spot lunch or dinner more seasonal with a fancy outdoor dining setup called the lemon orchard that includes actual lemon trees. Marion recommends the potato and zucchini chips with melted gorgonzola or the rigatoni Bolognese — and an Aperol spritz.

Called the Lemon Orchard, outdoor dining at Fresco by Scotto.
Outdoor dining at Fresco by Scotto.
Fresco by Scotto

Shukette

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It’s less loud and more chill and heated in the outdoor seating at Shukette. The enclosed tables make for added warmth, privacy, and ambience as this always packed restaurant.

Three people hold plates and dishes around a yellow table filled with spreads of vegetables, meats, breads, and dips.
A spread of dishes at Shukette.
Kyle Nunez/Shukette

Check out Pojangmacha-style dining at this Koreatown restaurant where you feel like you’re in your own little outdoor abode. Kick off the night with Korean beer or soju standards, or a selection from the menu of Japanese whisky. Move on to skewers and bar food like sweet potato fries and clams tang. Or consider a late-ish order Korean fried chicken: The kitchen is open until 11 p.m.

An outdoor dining structure sits in a bike line with open windows. The building’s walls are red and its roof appears to be black.
The exterior of Osamil.
Osamil

Mark's Off Madison

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Chef Mark Strausman, formerly of Freds at Barneys New York and Campagna, runs this bagel-centric restaurant at the corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street. In addition to bagels and lox and bagel sandwiches, go for the chicken soup, Belgian fries, or the overflowing spring salad. It’s open for dinner, too, with items like fresh pasta, pizza, and crabcakes.

Sidewalk dining under blue awnings.
Outside Mark’s Off Madison.
Mark’s Off Madison

The Mary Lane

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An airy all-weather seating includes floral-filled planters at the Mary Lane in Greenwich Village. Chef Andrew Sutin’s vegetable focused menu includes trumpet mushroom tartare, and roasted halibut with a roasted pepper puree, as well as a $19 three-course lunch special, and brunch.

Sit right in the center of things in the Village at this petite fish-and-chips seafood restaurant from Patricia Howard and chef Ed Szymanski. It’s tight corners outdoors and a tiny bar inside, with an indoor-outdoor feel when the weather is nice. These tough to get tables are worth the wait for grilled oysters, Dover sole, and proper English chips.

Sidewalk seating and outdoor dining at Dame.
Outdoor dining at Dame.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria

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Sit at the sidewalk tables or out back — no worries: both areas are covered — at this market slash restaurant and all-day workhorse. Whether you’re here to snack Italian-style or you’re looking for chef Justin Smillie’s spin on pastas, pizzas, panini, or mains, every diner at your table is likely to find something that hits the spot.

Lure Fishbar

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Mercer Street Hospitality’s John McDonald commissioned a shipping container to look like a submarine outside Lure Fishbar, the restaurant from the group where McDonald and executive chef for the group, Preston Clark, first connected. The seating, with portholes and string lights, is one-of-a-kind sidewalk seating in Manhattan.

A shipping container looks like a submarine.
Outdoor dining at Lure Fishbar in Soho.
John McDonald/Lure Fishbar

Twenty Three Grand

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At the corner of Grand and Thompson streets Twenty Three Grand serves food from chef Ashley Rath (Saint Theo’s, Gramercy Tavern, The Grill from Major Food Group) with a menu that includes a caviar and raw bar, salads like a kale Caesar, pastas like angel hair pomodoro, and mains like roasted chicken. The atrium features a retractable roof.

Colorful crudite with three dipping sauces.
The crudite on the menu at Twenty Three Grand.
Evan Sung/Twenty Three Grand

This French Indonesian restaurant has been holding things down in Nolita since 2019, drawing crowds for its east-meets-west menu and dining room that Eater once called “dark and sexy.” No surprise here, but the outdoor setup is just as stunning: There’s potted plants, patterned wallpaper, and decorative lanterns. And yes, it’s tented and heated.

The face of a restaurant, Wayan, in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood.
Outside Wayan.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Loreley Beer Garden

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Head out back at this Lower East Side bar for an outdoor beer garden vibe with plenty of room to spread out. The backyard’s picnic tables are great for groups, as are the restaurant’s oversized pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel, and beer (available by the half liter and liter in most cases).

Picnic tables and overhead heaters are arranged in the backyard of a Manhattan bar.
The backyard of Loreley Beer Garden.
Loreley Beer Garden

Wu's Wonton King

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Wu’s Wonton King took full advantage of the expansive stretch of sidewalk outside the restaurant and set up a sprawling covered outdoor dining structure with spaced-out tables set up under a string of lights and well-positioned electric heaters in colder months. The vibe out front, where a BYOB policy reins supreme and whole suckling pigs are occasionally carried out to tables, is just as good as inside — and possibly better if dining in a group, as tables out here can be rearranged to fit larger parties with a little notice.

A corner restaurant has brightly lit, block font signs saying Wu’s Wonton King.
Outside Wu’s Wonton King.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Tin Building by Jean-Georges

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While you can’t dine outdoors for House of the Red Pearl or the handful of sit-down restaurants, if you’re looking for sushi to go, a dosa, or a meal from one of the many fast-casual stalls in Jean-Georges’ food hall there are plenty of outdoor tables available. Grab a seat in the sheltered area near the main entrance for prime people-watching, or sit at a table with a full-on view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

A photo of T Cafe in the ground level of the Tin Building from Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
T Cafe in the ground level of the Tin Building in the Seaport.
Nicole Franzen/Tin Building

Harlem Tavern

This neighborhood restaurant and beer garden has a large red tent setup that is well-suited for group hangs (it seats about 40). Stop by the covered patio rain or shine to order from this Harlem spot’s extensive menu of pub fare like Buffalo chicken wraps, steak tacos, and fried green tomato flatbreads.

Dagon

Chef Ari Bokovza’s buzzy restaurant showcases eastern Mediterranean fare in a breezy indoor-outdoor dining room as well as a 30 outdoor dining patio. Diners are transported to a garden with lots of plants, green leather benches, and ornate chandeliers. Don’t miss the flatbreads and mezze to start.

Outdoor dining at Dagon, a long table lit by chandeliers and protected from the rain.
Outdoor dining at Dagon.
Dagon

Fresco by Scotto

Family-run Fresco by Scotto — from matriarch Marion Scotto and daughters Elaina, who runs the restaurant and Rosanna, who assists (and is also an anchor on Fox 5 NY)— makes a Midtown spot lunch or dinner more seasonal with a fancy outdoor dining setup called the lemon orchard that includes actual lemon trees. Marion recommends the potato and zucchini chips with melted gorgonzola or the rigatoni Bolognese — and an Aperol spritz.

Called the Lemon Orchard, outdoor dining at Fresco by Scotto.
Outdoor dining at Fresco by Scotto.
Fresco by Scotto

Shukette

It’s less loud and more chill and heated in the outdoor seating at Shukette. The enclosed tables make for added warmth, privacy, and ambience as this always packed restaurant.

Three people hold plates and dishes around a yellow table filled with spreads of vegetables, meats, breads, and dips.
A spread of dishes at Shukette.
Kyle Nunez/Shukette

Osamil

Check out Pojangmacha-style dining at this Koreatown restaurant where you feel like you’re in your own little outdoor abode. Kick off the night with Korean beer or soju standards, or a selection from the menu of Japanese whisky. Move on to skewers and bar food like sweet potato fries and clams tang. Or consider a late-ish order Korean fried chicken: The kitchen is open until 11 p.m.

An outdoor dining structure sits in a bike line with open windows. The building’s walls are red and its roof appears to be black.
The exterior of Osamil.
Osamil

Mark's Off Madison

Chef Mark Strausman, formerly of Freds at Barneys New York and Campagna, runs this bagel-centric restaurant at the corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street. In addition to bagels and lox and bagel sandwiches, go for the chicken soup, Belgian fries, or the overflowing spring salad. It’s open for dinner, too, with items like fresh pasta, pizza, and crabcakes.

Sidewalk dining under blue awnings.
Outside Mark’s Off Madison.
Mark’s Off Madison

The Mary Lane

An airy all-weather seating includes floral-filled planters at the Mary Lane in Greenwich Village. Chef Andrew Sutin’s vegetable focused menu includes trumpet mushroom tartare, and roasted halibut with a roasted pepper puree, as well as a $19 three-course lunch special, and brunch.

Dame

Sit right in the center of things in the Village at this petite fish-and-chips seafood restaurant from Patricia Howard and chef Ed Szymanski. It’s tight corners outdoors and a tiny bar inside, with an indoor-outdoor feel when the weather is nice. These tough to get tables are worth the wait for grilled oysters, Dover sole, and proper English chips.

Sidewalk seating and outdoor dining at Dame.
Outdoor dining at Dame.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria

Sit at the sidewalk tables or out back — no worries: both areas are covered — at this market slash restaurant and all-day workhorse. Whether you’re here to snack Italian-style or you’re looking for chef Justin Smillie’s spin on pastas, pizzas, panini, or mains, every diner at your table is likely to find something that hits the spot.

Lure Fishbar

Mercer Street Hospitality’s John McDonald commissioned a shipping container to look like a submarine outside Lure Fishbar, the restaurant from the group where McDonald and executive chef for the group, Preston Clark, first connected. The seating, with portholes and string lights, is one-of-a-kind sidewalk seating in Manhattan.

A shipping container looks like a submarine.
Outdoor dining at Lure Fishbar in Soho.
John McDonald/Lure Fishbar

Twenty Three Grand

At the corner of Grand and Thompson streets Twenty Three Grand serves food from chef Ashley Rath (Saint Theo’s, Gramercy Tavern, The Grill from Major Food Group) with a menu that includes a caviar and raw bar, salads like a kale Caesar, pastas like angel hair pomodoro, and mains like roasted chicken. The atrium features a retractable roof.

Colorful crudite with three dipping sauces.
The crudite on the menu at Twenty Three Grand.
Evan Sung/Twenty Three Grand

Wayan

This French Indonesian restaurant has been holding things down in Nolita since 2019, drawing crowds for its east-meets-west menu and dining room that Eater once called “dark and sexy.” No surprise here, but the outdoor setup is just as stunning: There’s potted plants, patterned wallpaper, and decorative lanterns. And yes, it’s tented and heated.

The face of a restaurant, Wayan, in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood.
Outside Wayan.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Loreley Beer Garden

Head out back at this Lower East Side bar for an outdoor beer garden vibe with plenty of room to spread out. The backyard’s picnic tables are great for groups, as are the restaurant’s oversized pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel, and beer (available by the half liter and liter in most cases).

Picnic tables and overhead heaters are arranged in the backyard of a Manhattan bar.
The backyard of Loreley Beer Garden.
Loreley Beer Garden

Wu's Wonton King

Wu’s Wonton King took full advantage of the expansive stretch of sidewalk outside the restaurant and set up a sprawling covered outdoor dining structure with spaced-out tables set up under a string of lights and well-positioned electric heaters in colder months. The vibe out front, where a BYOB policy reins supreme and whole suckling pigs are occasionally carried out to tables, is just as good as inside — and possibly better if dining in a group, as tables out here can be rearranged to fit larger parties with a little notice.

A corner restaurant has brightly lit, block font signs saying Wu’s Wonton King.
Outside Wu’s Wonton King.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Tin Building by Jean-Georges

While you can’t dine outdoors for House of the Red Pearl or the handful of sit-down restaurants, if you’re looking for sushi to go, a dosa, or a meal from one of the many fast-casual stalls in Jean-Georges’ food hall there are plenty of outdoor tables available. Grab a seat in the sheltered area near the main entrance for prime people-watching, or sit at a table with a full-on view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

A photo of T Cafe in the ground level of the Tin Building from Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
T Cafe in the ground level of the Tin Building in the Seaport.
Nicole Franzen/Tin Building

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