Where to Dine Outdoors in Atlanta Right Now

French bistro tables in a brick-lined outdoor patio are hard to improve upon, but Little Sparrow does just that with a menu of steak haché and frites, ricotta gnudi with morels, and a baguette with “good butter.” We’d advise enjoying your bounty as the French would, with their pastis service (aka, Ricard neat with a sidecar of chilled mineral water) and a healthy dose of people watching.

Head to 26 Thai’s Buckland spot that’s, well, very pink and overflowing with a joyous feminine energy. Red and white scalloped umbrellas on their front patio may offer you shade, but know that the spice on their dishes, like the spicy tamarind soup and red curry confit duck, may have you sweating anyway.

This Roswell hot spot has two outdoor dining spaces — the patio and the garden — which have distinctly different vibes. See and be seen on the patio facing Green Street, or relax in the quiet tranquility of the backyard garden. In both spaces, you’ll enjoy seasonal beverages like the Duke of Basil (gin and a basil sugar rim) to dishes like the B.E.L.T., a fresh take on a BLT with braised kale on homemade sandwich bread, or the lemon ricotta hotcakes topped with strawberry-rhubarb compote. Whatever you do, don’t skip on the sourdough cinnamon roll, which is big enough to share if you’re feeling generous.

With three distinct outdoor dining spaces — the high-top porch, the pavilion and the garden — A Mano is the perfect place to post up for freshly made pasta with a Southern twist. Sip cocktails and natural wine at this neighborhood Italian bistro, where most of the offerings, including the pastas and breads, are made by hand (as the name implies). The cozy, yet lively atmosphere invites you to sit and stay, living la dolce vita and feeling like you just must might be in Italy … without ever leaving O4W.

This spacious, walled-in Mexican restaurant’s outdoor section has space heaters throughout (to combat Atlanta’s notoriously shifty weather), and is halfway covered with a floating trellis and patio umbrellas to keep you dry and un-sunburned on the other side. It’s a great place for a variety of drinks, including a tequila or mezcal flight, several iterations of margaritas, or a refreshing michelada, and a meal on the lighter side (say their spicy ceviche Jalisco with citrus-marinated fish, octopus and shrimp), or an achiote-marinated salmon salad with grilled yellow squash.

Considered by many to be one of Atlanta’s best restaurants, BoccaLupo is located inside a quirky square bungalow on an elevated perch at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Waddell Street. Its porch is one of the city’s coolest outdoor dining setups and makes for a great place to see and be seen. With funky, angular windows offering reflected views of the building’s flower garden and the ever-flowing foot traffic coming in and out of Inman Park, the GM says the best seat in the house is “the L-shaped couch on the patio,” which tends to be a favorite spot for celebrities (but don’t worry, you’ve got a good chance of scoring it by request if you’re “cool”).

Hot honey wings and street tacos paired with a beer just taste better on a rooftop, right? Enter High Note Rooftop Bar & Lounge, Midtown’s hottest rooftop bar serving craft cocktails, beer, and wine along with shareable dishes and entrees. With both covered and open-air seating options, High Note has a set up perfect for gathering a crew and hanging out while overlooking the Atlanta skyline. Hot tip? Sip on the Bee Sting cocktail, with tequila, orange liqueur, and honey jalapeño syrup.

It’s hard to compete with a restaurant that overlooks Tanyard Creek and Bobby Jones Golf Course, and even more difficult when the cuisine and the service are both casually simple and upscale at once. Stop by and gaze into the surrounding natural wonders while enjoying a B.L.FGT (bacon, lettuce, fried green tomato) sandwich at lunchtime, Carolina barbecue pork shoulder at dinner, plenty of wines by the glass, and, of course, the signature house version of the bourbon sour “Bobby Jones” cocktail.

Delbar gives sunny and joyful vibes both inside and out, but the restaurant’s patio has its own special energy, thanks to an abundance of potted plants and assorted trees that flank the outdoor wooden tables with cream-colored patio umbrellas for shade. Another great spot for enjoying Delbar’s exceptional Iranian, Turkish, Lebanese, and Israeli food is the enclosed sunroom, where white brick and Persian rugs interact with tons of natural light to create the feeling of al fresco dining but under controlled temperatures.

The heated patio at Kimball House mirrors some of the impeccable brasserie-and-then-some design of the restaurant’s interior, and all the crucial culinary elements are still very much in effect: Hawaiian rolls and shrimp cocktails to start, steakhouse classics — and, yes, the raw bar, including the always-alluring selection of oysters from both coasts that have made this a cult favorite in Decatur since its 2013 opening.

Chef Steven Satterfield continues to charm Atlanta with dishes like its farm egg baked in celery cream with grilled bread, and roasted poulet rouge with ricotta dumplings and spring peas. A truly excellent and extensive wine list brings in oenophiles, while its cocktail menu provides refreshing options for patio sipping.

It’s hard to imagine al fresco dining being more awe-inspiring than this north-OTP concept situated atop downtown Alpharetta’s Liberty Hall, where an abandoned gas station was replaced with a four-story development that got its own rooftop restaurant. The 300-seat, brick-walled, wood-floored, indoor-outdoor destination boasts a wraparound terrace which looks out over the city and all the way to Kennesaw Mountain. Sharable small plates include lettuce wraps and charcuterie boards, as well as lamb sliders, a double-stack “Royale with Cheese” smash burger, and plenty of dishes from both land and sea. While you’re up there, don’t miss out on “elevated classic” cocktails like the Don’t Worry Darling (orange liqueur, red grapefruit cordial, and prosecco), handcrafted bottled cocktails, and plenty of beers and wines by the pint or glass.

Equal parts courtyard, bar, and restaurant, Westside Motor Lounge is essentially an indoor-outdoor complex full of vibrant color and lots of activities, where you can choose your own experience. The three-acre, dog-friendly development also hosts a cocktail lounge, a listening room, a game room and a half-acre courtyard with a stage for live music, a beer garden, shuffleboard courts, cabanas, fire pits and a food truck. But the main spaces serve plenty of great drinks and good food, with ingredients sourced from local farms.

Seating is first come, first served. See the menus here.