Rain City’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.
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 14 places that nail the city’s alfresco dining game.
Eat Bar & Patio Haraheri (Downtown)
Dine on the rooftop patio at Eat Bar & Patio Haraheri for treetop views and Japanese tapas. Credit: Nora Hamade, Eat Bar & Patio Haraheri
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 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 and deep-fried Brussels sprouts with garlic salt. For something heartier, get the teishoku set meals featuring deep-fried chicken or sashimi; bento boxes are a highlight at lunchtime.
PIER 7 restaurant + bar (North Van)
Kick-off patio season with a seafood tower at PIER 7 restaurant + bar, featuring poached lobster tail, crab, oysters, mussels, red prawns, scallop crudo, and maple candied salmon. Credit: PIER 7 restaurant + bar
PIER 7 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 poached lobster tail and wild red 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 tagliatelle with braised bison). Show up on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening for live music on the upper deck.
Beach House (West Van)
The beachside seasonal deck with scenic panoramic views of Burrard Inlet at Beach House. Credit: Beach House
This refined but casual North Shore dining room is housed in a reimagined hotel and teahouse from 1912. Beach House 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.
Joe Fortes Vancouver (West End)
Enjoy an alfresco weekend brunch on the pretty rooftop patio at Joe Fortes Vancouver. Credit: Joe Fortes Vancouver
This downtown Vancouver institution has 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.
Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen (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 chile momos (dumplings) and bamboo shoot curry.
Minami Restaurant (Yaletown)
Minami’s hidden courtyard in Yaletown is a lush downtown oasis. Credit: Cody Chan
Like its sibling restaurant Miku, Minami focuses on aburi, or flame-seared sushi. Also on the menu: aburi-style beef and vegetable dishes, plus creative cocktails, such as the Aburi Pearl, a blend of nigori sake, bird’s eye chile, and a togarashi-sugar rim. The plant-filled garden courtyard is a hidden oasis in Yaletown and is open weather permitting.
Tap & Barrel (Multiple locations)
Patios play starring roles at Tap & Barrel’s various locations. 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 & Barrel’s own brewery.
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Dockside Restaurant (Granville Island)
Diners flock to Dockside Restaurant for panoramic waterfront views over False Creek in the restaurant’s courtyard, a full patio with an outdoor fireplace. Credit: Dockside Restaurant
This sophisticated spot is 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 chef Zachary Steele’s vegetable-forward dishes, such as charred broccoli and smoked applewood cheddar croquettes or seared Hokkaido scallops with pea purée and snap peas.
Reflections – Rosewood Hotel Georgia (Downtown)
Reflections’ patio at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia is a private courtyard favoured by Vancouverites in the know. Credit: Reflections–Rosewood Hotel Georgia
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.
Gotham Steakhouse and Bar (Downtown)
Sit next to the crackling fireplace if it’s chilly on Gotham’s terrace. Credit: Gotham Steakhouse
Gotham’s sunny upstairs terrace welcomes diners for lunch, dinner, and drinks with shade trees, umbrellas, and a massive 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.
Provence Marinaside (Yaletown)
This French restaurant channels 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 panisse with Romesco sauce and bouillabaisse with wild-caught prawns, Hokkaido scallops, and more—plus weekly live jazz.
Havana (Commercial Drive)
Havana’s streetside patio on Commercial Drive sits across from Grandview Park. Credit: Lori Miles Photography
Latin American and Pacific coastal cuisine share the stage at this vibrant spot on The Drive. Boozy slushies and playful cocktails—such as a Jalisco Martini, made with coffee-infused tequila—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.
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar (Downtown)
Boulevard’s terrace curves around the brick driveway at the Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver. Credit: Leila Kwok
The award-winning team at Boulevard 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, including a salt dough-crusted whole sea bream served with roasted fennel and Provençal sauce. Watch for special outdoor dining events, such as the BLVD Paella Patio Party.
LIFT Bar Grill View (Coal Harbour)
This seafood-forward restaurant focusses on Pacific coastal cuisine. LIFT 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.
Johanna Read is a Canadian freelance writer/photographer specializing in travel, food, and responsible tourism; follow her on Twitter at @TravelEater and Instagram at @TravelEaterJohanna.
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