Pittsburgh's Best Outdoor Dining Options

PITTSBURGH, PA - With the just-concluded Memorial Day weekend being the unofficial start of summer, the mind obviously begins thinking summery thoughts of lounging poolside, throwing steaks on the grill and, of course, al fresco dining.

A growing number of places in Pittsburgh offer patio or rooftops settings for open-air dining and drinking. Which ones are the best? For the answer, we turned to those experts on everything, Yelp review enthusiasts.

Here’s how they have them ranked. Do you agree with the Yelpsters? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.

1. Hidden Harbor, Squirrel Hill
Raved one reviewer about this East End tiki bar, which has sidewalk tables offering a view of busy Shady Avenue traffic: “It feels like you’re on vacation! I love this place.

2. Eleven, Strip District
One fan opined:” We were eating on the outside balcony. The view was beautiful. As the sun set, the manager was very prompt to lower the blinds to shade us.”

3. Cafe du Jour, South Side
Reviews don’t come much better than this: “I would recommend this restaurant for a romantic evening or special occasion dinner…In the summertime, they have an outdoor patio/garden area that is very pleasant to dine in.”

4. The Abbey on Butler, Lawrenceville
This relatively new entry on the local drinking and dining scene already is drawing high praise, particularly for its outdoor option: “The space is HUGE, and that patio with a pristine fountain centerpiece will be a staple for outdoor dining enthusiasts for years to come.”

(At this point in the proceedings, we disqualified the Lorenz Cafe in the West End. There is no mention of outdoor dining on its Yelp page, and neither of its two reviews mentioned al fresco dining. So why should it be ranked fifth?)

5. Round Corner Cantina, Lawrenceville
Offered one Yelp user: “The patio area looks and feels like a Baja surf bar. I like it, it's relaxed and cool and right up my alley.”

6. Meat and Potatoes, Downtown
According to this reviewer, you can’t go wrong no matter where you dine in this restaurant:”It was a nice night in Pittsburgh, so we decided to dine outside on the patio, but the inside looked pretty cool as well.”

7. The Porch at Schenley, Oakland
People evidently like to soak up the University of Pittsburgh atmosphere on nice nights. Said this reviewer: “What a crowd! We got to the Porch and the place was packed! All of the outside (tables) were filled.”

8. Gaucho Parrilla Argentina, Strip District
Almost disqualified this place as well, because the only reference to the patio was regarding it being an option for the often overflowing crowd inside. But the word “patio” did surface, so we’ll give the one here the benefit of the doubt.

9. The Foundry Table & Tap, North Shore
This Yelpster opined: “Iti has an outdoor patio on the river, which (is) ideal for the spring and summer months.”

10.Tako, Downtown
A favorable review from this patron: “Scored some outdoor seating. It was great to sit on the street and also watch the chefs at work.”

Photo by Roy Luck via Creative Commons.