East Bay Restaurants in Spotlight For Al Fresco Dining

EAST BAY, CA — Our beautiful summer weather encourages al fresco dining, but combined with the COVID-19 delta variant surge, more people are opting to dine outdoors when dining out.

Some restaurants are worth trying because of their exterior atmosphere.

The Bay Area News Group recently chose nine Bay Area restaurants that have mastered the outdoors, including four here in the East Bay.

In Walnut Creek you can eat in "a lush, shaded garden with high hedges and large trees, trellised flowers and bistro tables."

San Ramon offers a "massive outdoor beer garden (that) includes rectangular fire pits with Adirondack-like chairs, shaded tables, heat lamps and tons of greenery."

In Oakland you'll find a German beer garden "flanked by a vine-covered building and lots of trees, with box gardens, twinkly lights zig-zagging overhead."

And if you head to Crockett for Dungeness crab and prime rib, "Sunset is the ideal time to enjoy the cabanas on the restaurant’s outdoor deck, along with stunning views of the water and Carquinez Bridge. Twinkly lights abound, heat lamps are available and there’s seating for 100."

Here's the list for the East Bay:

• Bounty Hunter, 1521 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Walnut Creek
• Fieldwork Brewing Co., 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon
• The Dead Fish, 20050 San Pablo Ave., Crockett
• Hofkuche, a German restaurant at 478 25th St., Oakland

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, one North Bay restaurant was selected, and four on the Peninsula or in the South Bay:

• Le Garage, 85 Liberty Ship Way, #109, Sausalito
• Noelani’s Island Grill, 1037 Laurel St., San Carlos
• Caffe Riace, 200 Sheridan Ave., Palo Alto
• Paesano Ristorante, 350 W. Julian St., San Jose
• MOHI Social at the Granada, 17440 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill

Read about all of the restaurants at the Bay Area News Group