Pizzeria Beddia is one of the more fun places to eat in Philly, and their outdoor setup is no different. During the summer, they open up the back patio—filled with long green picnic tables—so you can have incredible small plates, pizza, and natural wines while taking in the rays. Make a reservation or walk up and put your name on the waitlist, and do some Fishtown people watching between bites of a pie stacked with Calabrian cream, mozzarella, Grana Padano, and greens.

Wm. Mulherin’s Sons is one of the best restaurants in Fishtown. And with hanging lights, tall trees, long picnic tables, and a few umbrellas for some sun cover, they have one of the nicer patio setups in the area where you can share a pizza or a few plates of ricotta cavatelli and lobster gnocchi. While you won’t get the unique charm of dining inside of a 100-year-old whiskey factory if you’re outside, just order one of their whiskey-based drinks, a few plates of pasta, and soak up the sun.

It can take a lot to get people to suffer through the chaos on I-76 just for a meal. But with The Landing Kitchen in Bala cooking up everything from shakshuka to a sausage, egg, and cheese topped with salsa verde, we suggest you make the trip. With the Schuylkill River within eyeshot, an old steel mill aesthetic, and garden games like cornhole on the patio, there’s no other place in Philly quite like this American spot.

La Chinesca has one of the most recognizable patios in the city—and that’s not just because it’s a glowing neon pink. On a sunny day, The Spring Arts Mexican-Asian fusion spot is as packed as the A.C. Boardwalk on the 4th of July. It serves some of our favorite margaritas in town, so you’ll usually see people sipping on them while they split plates of Singapore noodles with shrimp, salsa topped Tijuana street dogs, and smoky kung pao chicken wings.

Like the sun and general happiness, Talula’s Garden is something you probably forgot existed during the winter. But then as soon as the weather’s nice again, it’s the only place you want to eat. Their patio is one of the bigger ones in the city and it’s full of trees and plants that might make you forget you’re in the middle of a city. Order some wine and cheese, and maybe a couple of dishes from their seasonal, produce-heavy menu.

East Passyunk’s Barcelona Wine Bar serves great shareable tapas and their outdoor patio is one of the best (and largest) in the area. There’s about as many seats on the outside as there are on the inside—and you see people on dates, celebrating a birthday, or toasting to the first sunny day in weeks with a Manhattan with a sherry twist. The tapas spot is ideal for grabbing a few plates of patatas bravas, whole fish, and good wine.

The large Sor Ynez parking lot setup is the first thing you’ll see when you walk up, and it’s a pretty lively scene—there are a bunch of people sharing lamb shanks coated in salsa verde and after-work hangouts sipping on Oaxacan Old Fashioneds. The Kensington Mexican spot also has plenty of vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes, like root vegetable ceviche vegan mixtole, so there’s something for everyone in your friend group.

The perfect outdoor date night spot should include a few things: string lights, a selection of summery cocktails, and an enclosed patio situation where you don’t have to listen to beeping car horns or imagine that there’s any real world outside those walls. Kensington Quarters has all three of those things in its Fishtown home, plus a very good burger that you should at least split with your date (if not order a whole one for yourself and another to take home with you).

What makes LMNO one of the most exciting dinner spots in the city is their outdoor setup that’s perfect for a night where you want to party without paying a cover at some club. The Fishtown spot has bright yellow and purple cafeteria-style seating, a glowing neon-lit bar that stretches from the interior to the exterior, and a few hanging lights that will shine on your round of tacos.

After a day of shopping at the Philadelphia Fashion District, you should hit up this Center City American brasserie. They have a few French 75 carafes we love to pass around the table while diving into their raw bar options like oysters, jumbo shrimp, and tuna carpaccio. Beyond the chilled choices, they also have a few small plates like fluffy corn beignets and Brussels sprouts frites that are on their Happy Hour menu.

When Queer Eye brought its makeover series to Philly years ago, we got this restaurant full of colorful patio furniture, white table umbrellas, and delicious Mexican food. This South Philly spot has a seafood-heavy brunch menu that’s consistently solid across the board. You can order the shrimp, whiting, and grits dish or salmon burger, but you should really go for the lobster benedict. It’s covered in a tangy Old Bay hollandaise sauce that's the shade as the bright yellow seats on their patio.

If you’re interested in basking in the sun while eating steak frites, head to Old City’s Royal Boucherie serene outdoor garden on the second floor. The French-inspired menu includes things like oysters, chicken cassoulet, and a few other dishes that will make you feel grateful for clear skies that day. And if you’re in the mood to people-watch, you can post up on their outdoor setup and eat their Boucherie Burger that’s oozing with gruyère, peppery watercress, and smoky bacon.

Martha is worth hanging out at all year long, but it doesn’t really get crowded until the first nice day of spring. As soon as that threshold is broken, Martha stays pleasantly full pretty much every night through late September. Their big back porch is filled with tables and mismatched chairs, and there’s table service outside so you don’t have to walk back to the bar inside every time you want a refill.

Even during the winter, Front Street is universally loved. But as soon as they set up their huge back patio for the season, it goes from being universally loved to universally idolized. And that’s because, while you can show up here any time of the year for everything from breakfast to late-night chicken fingers, they take patio reservations all summer long. That’s a game-changer—especially on weekend mornings when literally every other place with more than one outdoor table has a two-hour wait.

Cantina Los Caballitos has one of the best Happy Hours in the city, and it’s even better when it’s warm outside. They have a huge patio right off East Passyunk, and from 4-6PM on weeknights you can get $16 pitchers of frozen margaritas to split between you and a few coworkers. Pair that with some nachos or a plate of shrimp tacos and you have the perfect reason to take a summer Friday every Friday until Labor Day.

Like a lot of other beer gardens in the city, Independence Beer Garden is covered in greenery and has rows of long tables made for supporting multiple large containers of beer. Unlike most other beer gardens, this one has legitimately great food, and serves lunch and dinner with things like burgers and tacos every day during the summer. Independence also hosts competitive lawn game leagues.

The beer garden on South Street is a vacant lot for most of the year, but during the summer, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society turns it into a full-on forest with big trees, wood-chip floors, a massive patio, and string lights. Inside you can go for any of their frozen drinks (we love the Gritty Marg), a shrimp roll, a burger, or just drink some craft beers in this Narnia-esque garden.

Morgan’s Pier has everything you could possibly want in a beer garden: river views, a ton of seating, over 40 different beers to choose from, and a sandwich and seafood menu with a baker’s dozen of choices. It’s pretty much the biggest day-drinking party in the city during the summer. Morgan’s Pier gets crowded super quickly, so your best bet is to head there early, grab a few tables, and order enough pitchers so that you don’t have to get the bartender’s attention for the forseeable future.

If you’re looking for a party on the water that feels like a music festival, head to The Winston On The Water. On their large bright patio, they have a DJ setup, games, and a few bars where you can get a cucumber jalapeño tequila cocktail. Since it’s right next to the Delaware River, it will probably be packed most days in the summer. But the view plus the burgers, shrimp baskets, and crab cake sandwich makes sharing the same stool with a stranger (almost) worth it.

So those 10 three-day weekends this year destroyed your PTO and you can’t take that trip to Paris. Okay—JFK Boulevard isn’t exactly the Champs-Élysées, but a meal at Cafe Click does its best to make up for it. Located in front of the Comcast Center, sit at any of their wicker bistro seats and split oysters, a smoked salmon tartine, and a warm crêpe topped with comté with the two friends that stayed in town.