Where to find Philadelphia’s best outdoor dining

Take a mini-break to the Amalfi Coast at this Old City gem, where the front and back patios are umbrella-shaded and adorned with tropical plants, flowers, and palm trees. The southern Italian food tastes even better when devoured outdoors, including spicy fried calamari, smoked salmon flatbread, and tuna tartare. If you’re after a buzzier vibe, come on the weekends when DJs set a party scene.

Philadelphia’s most adored French restaurant is also home to one of the city’s most sought-after outdoor dining perches. Parc reaches its atmospheric peak in the spring and summer, with the dining room windows flung open and the corner teeming with people hopeful for a table. The bustling sidewalk tables sit across the street from Rittenhouse Square Park, and the restaurant takes full advantage of its setting. There’s no better place to enjoy a flawlessly cooked cheese Gruyère omelet or steak frites while people watching.

Booker’s lush patio has a one-of-a-kind greenhouse vibe, thanks to a sturdy pergola that’s crisscrossed with ample flowers, vines, and greenery. Comfortable outdoor tables and chairs make it the type of place city dwellers want to linger—as does the homey food. Consider the beef andouille sausage and shrimp with grits for brunch or get a plate of fried fish sliders and soak in the sunshine. And learn about the restaurant’s storied past while you’re here: The iconic Cedar Park spot is named for Booker Wright, a server at a whites-only restaurant in 1960s Mississippi (the subject of a 2012 documentary).

La Llorona has an extra-wide pavement for a dining area bedecked with lights, and there are enough plants to make it feel like a green haven in concrete-heavy South Philly. The cantina-style menu offers standout tacos, nachos, and ceviche. Try the pollo en su mole (chicken breast with frito beans, red rice, and tortillas) for a taste of the housemade mole sauce, layered with complex flavors. Spirits aficionados, take note: the bar offers a few tequilas you won’t easily find elsewhere.

You’ll find Le Virtù on the quieter end of East Passyunk Avenue, and its sprawling patio is among the best al fresco options in Philadelphia. Tables are well spaced, plants abound, and there are plenty of shaded and sheltered sections so diners can find a spot for their needs. The Abruzzo-focused menu, with its housemade pasta, is another reason to visit Le Virtù at any time of year. Try the maccheroni alla mugnaia—a single, impossibly long strand of pasta tangled in hot peppers, garlic, olive oil, and pecorino.

Semi-hidden behind a vine-tangled wrought iron fence across from Washington Square Park, the patio at Talula’s Garden feels like a secret garden. The atmosphere is particularly enchanting, lit by paper lanterns and bountiful twinkly lights. Local ingredients feature heavily on the menu, so look for the most seasonal treats, such as ricotta and goat cheese ravioli with arugula, Kennett Square mushrooms, and sage-scented breadcrumbs.

If there’s a cuisine that is best eaten outside, it’s island-inspired Greek fare. Locust Street and Philadelphia’s bustling theater district are a long way from the Aegean isles, but Estia transports you there with a glass of cold white wine, a platter of dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), and charcoal-grilled octopus. Estia’s spacious sidewalk tables are shaded by an inviting overhang that offers shade on sunny days, while colorful flower boxes give the space a quaint and garden-like ambience.