Vancouver’s sunny season kicks off with meals on restaurant patios, rooftops, and terraces. Thanks to a recently extended street patio program, Vancouverites have even more choices for outdoor dining. From romantic destinations for date night to spectacular views to lively alfresco brunch spots, the best patio restaurants in Vancouver promise a memorable meal outdoors.
A waterside restaurant serving Canadian comfort food in False Creek also offers enchanting sea views—there’s even a chance a seal might swim by. A West End spot dishes out top-notch Himalayan fare on a lantern-studded patio. In Yaletown, a Japanese joint is all about flame-seared sushi in a clandestine plant-filled courtyard.
Get ready for stunning ocean and mountain views, plus hidden open-air oases at Vancouver’s top outdoor restaurants. Read on for a guide to the best patio restaurants in Vancouver that nail the city’s alfresco dining game and book on OpenTable today.
The best patio restaurants in Vancouver for outdoor dining – read on for a guide
For special occasions – visit Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Downtown
The award-winning team at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar impresses with its West Coast fine-dining menus and top-notch service. Its terrace tables sit atop a beautiful grey-and-white tile floor next to the Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver. Kick off with one of the city’s best seafood towers, a patio-perfect starter. Then make way for shareable dishes and hearty mains, including a soy-sake glazed sablefish cooked over charcoal, served with local bull kelp, radish roasted king oyster mushroom, and bone broth emulsion. Watch for special outdoor dining events, such as happy hour, weekend brunch, tasting menus and patio parties.
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For spectacular water views on a rooftop – book at LIFT Bar Grill View in Coal Harbour
This seafood-forward restaurant focusses on Pacific coastal cuisine. LIFT Bar Grill View is perched on stilts over the water and has spectacular views of Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, and the North Shore mountains from both indoors and out. Choose from the rooftop deck or wraparound patio with fold-away windows. Some tables are protected from unexpected showers—a Vancouver specialty—with awnings and umbrellas. Given the demand, outdoor tables are first come, first served.
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For one of the best patio restaurants in Vancouver for sushi – try Minami Restaurant in Yaletown
Like its sibling restaurant Miku Restaurant, Minami Restaurant focuses on aburi, or flame-seared sushi. Also on the menu: aburi-style beef and vegetable dishes, plus creative cocktails, such as the floral and fruity Minami martini, a blend of Aburi ginjo sake, butterfly-pea sheringham beacon gin, and soho lychee. The plant-filled garden courtyard is a hidden oasis in Yaletown and is open weather permitting.
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For a stunning terrace with an outdoor fireplace – book a table at Gotham Steakhouse and Bar in Downtown
Gotham Steakhouse and Bar’s sunny upstairs terrace welcomes diners for lunch, dinner, and drinks with shade trees, umbrellas, and a massive and elegant outdoor fireplace. Steakhouse faithfuls such as prime-grade beef and Atlantic lobster tail are paired with award-winning wines, and the afternoon social hour menu is available in the lounge—which often has live music—and on the patio.
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For one of the best rooftop patios in Vancouver – visit Eat Bar & Patio Haraheri in Downtown
This charming Japanese izakaya (formerly Guu Garden) has a rooftop patio and glassed-in indoor space. From both settings, diners have views of the mirrored curves of the Wall Centre and the sloping glass roof of the Arthur Erickson-designed Law Courts. It’s easy to forget that downtown traffic looms below, thanks to Eat Bar & Patio Haraheri’s hushed elevated setting. The 150-seat patio is surrounded by green planters and can host up to 200 for special events. It’s a lush place to feast on the restaurant’s many plant-based small plates, such as cauliflower karaage, spicy Szechuan zucchini, and kale tempura with deep-fried tofu with a hint of black truffle. For something heartier, get the teishoku set meals featuring miso marinated wagyu flat iron steak or sashimi; bento boxes are a highlight at lunchtime.
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For seafood platters and waterside views – try PIER 7 restaurant + bar in North Vancouver
PIER 7 restaurant + bar sits on the boardwalk of historic Shipyard Square at Lonsdale Quay. Crowds come for 180-degree waterfront views through its floor-to-ceiling windows and breezy patios with views that stretch out to Stanley Park. The boat-to-table menu is equally enticing, featuring a signature seafood tower with citrus and herb lobster tail and tiger prawns, plus tuna poke and Dungeness crab. If you’re not here for seafood, consider PIER 7’s top-notch burgers, steaks, and pastas (including spaghettini with chicken and black truffle cream). Look out for some daily specials such as Thursday’s surf’n’turf, weekend brunch, and evenings of live music on the upper deck.
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For a meal on the beach – book at The Beach House Restaurant & Lounge in West Vancouver
This refined but casual North Shore dining room is housed in a reimagined hotel and teahouse from 1912. The Beach House Restaurant & Lounge dazzles with views over Burrard Inlet, Stanley Park, and English Bay, best experienced from its main patio (or an upstairs balcony that’s also bookable for private events). Glass walls offer protection from the wind—without sacrificing the knockout views—while the downstairs patio is equipped with a retractable awning and built-in heaters. It’s an ideal backdrop for digging into superb seafood, including freshly shucked oysters and sustainable sturgeon caviar.
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For an outdoor brunch in a charming garden – don’t miss Joe Fortes Vancouver in West End
Joe Fortes Vancouver is a downtown Vancouver institution with a buzzing rooftop patio with a living wall, garden, horseshoe bar, and an outdoor fireplace, plus awnings and umbrellas. Enjoy a wide selection of oysters on the half shell, fresh fish and seafood, chops, and steaks aged a minimum of 28 days. Vancouverites also come for alfresco Saturday and Sunday brunch, featuring hits such as four different spins on eggs benedict, chicken and waffles, plus Joe’s signature coffee cake with mascarpone honey cream.
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For one of the best patio restaurants in Vancouver for a transportative meal – try Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen in West End
Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen is in a century-old house on Davie Street with plenty of outdoor seating options. The largest is the heated lantern-studded patio above the back alley, but there’s also a smaller one on the side of the building that offers prime people-watching. The lunch and dinner menus focus on freshly prepared Nepali, Tibetan, and Indian dishes, with many vegetarian and vegan choices including tofu vegetable fried momos (dumplings) and bamboo shoot curry.
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For local brews and comfort food – visit TAP & BARREL in the Olympic Village, Convention Centre, Bridges, Shipyards and South Surrey
Patios play starring roles at TAP & BARREL’s various locations in the Olympic Village, Convention Centre, Bridges, Shipyards and South Surrey. At Olympic Village, for example, diners get views of the Seawall, Science World’s geodesic dome, the spires of BC Place, and the boats on False Creek. The covered patio is open year-round and the upper balcony is available weather-permitting (both settings are equipped with heaters, just in case). The restaurant’s Granville Island outpost—home to more gorgeous False Creek views—opened in 2022 and houses Tap & Barrel’s test kitchen. No matter which location you book, expect elegant comfort food spotlighting BC ingredients such as Fraser Valley free-run chicken and Ocean Wise sustainable seafood, plus beers from TAP & BARRELs own brewery.
📍Olympic Village — Check availability
📍Convention Centre — Check availability
📍Bridges — Check availability
📍Shipyards — Check availability
📍South Surrey — Check availability
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For one of the best patio restaurants in Vancouver with waterfront views – try Dockside Restaurant in Granville Island
Dockside Restaurant is a must-visit sophisticated spot at the boutiquey Granville Island Hotel, on the island’s quieter side. Its seasonal sun-kissed courtyard patio is decked with tables that are protected by awnings, umbrellas, and a large pergola. Pick a scenic perch and order hand-crafted cocktails and some of new executive chef Josef Driemelchef’s vegetable and seafood-forward dishes, such as oyster mushroom tempura, spinach, pesto an truffle pizza, local sturgeon caviar with crispy chips and toasts, pan seared halibut on smoked honey labneh, torch-seared tuna, table side tartare and a shared experience of fondue for two.
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For one of the most romantic outdoor setups in Vancouver – book at Reflections – Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Downtown
Reflections is a swanky seasonal and glass-roofed terrace, hidden on the fourth floor of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia. In-the-know Vancouverites come for globally inspired tapas, such as lobster tacos and burrata and beet salad, against a hushed backdrop of a waterfall and trees hanging with lanterns. Weekend brunch here is equally cosmopolitan and includes masala egg bhurji (an Indian-inspired scramble) and stone fruit-topped French toast.
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For a trip to the French Riviera – don’t miss Provence Marinaside in Yaletown
Provence Marinaside is a French restaurant channelling an afternoon in Nice, with views of the Seawall and the tall masts at Quayside Marina. Its sidewalk patio is festooned with flowers and protected by awnings and heaters. Come for French-accented seafood such as anchovy tapenade, sautéed wild prawns provençal and bouillabaisse with wild-caught prawns, Hokkaido scallops, mussels, clams, fish, fingerling potatoes, gruyère, rouille, and more—plus weekly live jazz.
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For one of the best family-friendly patios in Vancouver – try Havana in Commercial Drive
Latin American and Pacific coastal cuisine share the stage at Havana, a vibrant spot on The Drive. Boozy slushies and playful cocktails—such as a Cuban old fashiones, made with brown butter rum, cacao-coffee bitters and honey—accompany ceviche, tacos, tostones, vegetable bowls, and more. Linger on the covered back patio and streetside tables (available first come, first served). Havana is a great place for families, too—the kids’ menu includes free weekend brunch pancakes (until 11 am) for those eight and under.
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Explore more of the best patio restaurants in Vancouver and reserve a spot on OpenTable today.
Discover more of Vancouver’s dining scene with these local guides:
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- These Vancouver restaurants nail outdoor dining
- Celebrate your special occasions at these top 12 Vancouver restaurants
