LAGuide
Where To Eat Outside On The Eastside
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park, and the neighborhoods in between have a lot going for them. Tons of parks. All the coolest new bars (well, in normal times). Countless French bulldogs with names like Timothèé and Radbourne. So it’s almost not fair that there are also tons of great places to eat outside, too. We say “almost” because, right now, we can all take advantage of everything this stretch of Sunset has to offer - starting with these 46 great spots for outdoor dining.
The Spots
Silver Lake sports bar 33 Taps has always had some sidewalk seating, but they’ve recently expanded their footprint along Sunset Blvd. Most importantly, they put a bunch of TVs in their windows so you watch sports while you’re eating outside. Any beer drinker will find something they like from the - you guessed it! - 33 taps, and their food menu has all the nachos and burgers you’ll need to make it through an entire Sunday of games.
Located in two converted houses on Hillhurst, this is one of the best outdoor spaces out there — perfect for penning the next King Lear, or sweating through every fiber of your clothes. Plus, they have a really good eggs Benedict.
Alimento is an intimate Italian spot with a small front patio in a quiet part of Silver Lake. They’re back open with their tremendous handmade pastas and other inventive Italian food. Their braised pork sugo radiatori is a new LA classic, but don’t be afraid to branch out if something else catches your eye. Reservations here.
The Silver Lake comfort food spot has set up a small outdoor dining area running along Sunset Blvd. Now you can enjoy their smoked ribs, hot catfish sandwich, and perhaps the most delicious biscuit on the planet while soaking up some rays.
A Los Feliz staple, Bar Covell has converted into a sidewalk wine bar, serving a tremendous list of wines by the glass and by the bottle (although they’ve had to pause the samples they used to give before committing to a glass). You can also expect cheese and charcuterie plates, tuna melts, and croque monsieurs - in other words, ideal snacks to go with a bottle of something light and French.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Bar Restaurant, one of our favorite new restaurants to open in the past year, has reopened as “Bar Restaurant Valet Parking,” with seating on their patio as well as a brand new dining space in their parking lot. There’s string lights, tons of foliage, and old menu favorites like the cured ham and moules frites.
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The famed Silver Lake bar has opened a big outdoor area for both eating and drinking. Expect picnic tables, string lighting, and two big white tents to block out the sun.
Blair’s is a Silver Lake locals’ spot that recently expanded their patio seating along Hyperion, and it’s a great place for a low-key cocktail or glass of wine and some house-made pasta.
This quiet spot is tucked in a, you guessed it, converted bungalow off of Santa Monica in Silver Lake. Their selection of Middle Eastern cuisine includes slow-cooked lamb with freekeh, steamed mussels with chickpeas, and an incredible seasonal fruit and vegetable couscous.
If you’ve missed Casita’s atmosphere and lethally strong margaritas as much as we have, good news - the iconic Mexican restaurant in Silver Lake is back open with not one, but three new outdoor patios. All the tables are six-feet apart, there are string lights hanging everywhere, and tons of umbrellas for shade. In other words, this is the ideal atmosphere for one too many margaritas.
One of our favorite restaurants of 2019, Ceviche Project is back open with a front sidewalk patio ideal for a low-key date night.
The all-day vegan restaurant in Echo Park has brand new sidewalk seating going along both Echo Park Ave. and Delta St.
Golden Road, the LA-bred, Budweiser-owned brewery in Atwater Village, has reopened their large front patio and side yard for dine-in. They’ve got an eclectic menu full of pub food, like carnitas poutine, BBQ short rib sandwiches, and fish & chips. First-come, first-served.
photo credit: Holly Liss
Guisados has reopened all of their locations, including the Echo Park outpost, with its back patio in the hills of Chavez Ravine. All the tacos are $3.50 or less, so you can really go crazy here and try a bunch of different stuff. Our favorites are the chicharrón - pork skin simmered in salsa verde - and the super-spicy chiles toreados, with four kinds of hot peppers.
If you’ve only ever been to Edendale to drink too much during Happy Hour, you may not have noticed how great their front patio is. It’s an ideal place for a night out underneath Edison bulbs and a bunch of trees. They’ve also recently brought back weekend brunch.
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A classic spot on Sunset Blvd., this music and dance venue in Silver Lake has reopened their back patio for drinking and dining. The menu is all bar food - chicken wings, nachos, and an Impossible burger - which is ideal for eating alongside their super-strong margaritas. They’re requiring patrons to wear masks at all times when not dining, and highly recommend making reservations. For more information, check out their Instagram.
Los Feliz sidewalk spot Figaro Bistrot reopened in late May, with their French cafe food, and all kinds of European wines. Things can get expensive, but when you’re drinking a glass of pinot on an empty Vermont Avenue, you can’t be too mad about it.
One of our favorite new spots of the year, Found Oyster is finally back with an all-new patio they built out in front of their shop on Fountain in East Hollywood. They’ll have littlenecks and oysters on the halfshell, steamers and fries, and more. It opens up Saturday, 11/14 - reservations here.
In “normal” times, Fred 62 was a 24-hour diner on Vermont across from the Los Feliz 3. Since reopening, they’re a 15-hour diner (9am-midnight), which is still pretty useful. They’ve got plenty of sidewalk seating for eating diner classics like all-day omelettes, mac & cheese balls, and Juicy Lucys, along with some recently added pan pizzas.
Silver Lake’s Gingergrass has been a neighborhood staple for 16 years, and they recently opened up an all-new dining tent outside their space on Glendale Blvd. In addition to the Vietnamese food they’ve always served, they’ve also dedicated their entire beer and wine list to Black-owned breweries and wineries, like Crowns & Hops, Maison Noir, and Aslina Wines.
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In a neighborhood that knows good patios, Home is one of our favorites. The leafy space on Hillhurst doesn’t exactly feel like a home, but it is a great place to hang with a few friends and burn an entire Thursday afternoon drinking mimosas and people-watching.
Located on the edge of Silver Lake and Frogtown, Ivanhoe’s huge outdoor dining room is a super-popular brunch destination and a low-key dinner spot serving burgers, sandwiches, salads, and pasta.
A Silver Lake locals’ spot that’s been around since 2000 (approximately 100 years in Silver Lake time), The Kitchen reopened their sidewalk seating for dining. The menu is mostly comfort food, which we all need a bit of right now - mac & cheese, meat loaf, and chicken pot pie, among many others. They’ve also got a small but very affordable beer and wine list.
Silver Lake’s great oyster spot L&E is open for patio dining on their quiet corner of Silver Lake Blvd. They have a new, abbreviated menu that includes oyster po’boys, crab cakes sandwiches, and mussels and fries, along with their usual selection of excellent cocktails and wine.
In what might be the most unique patio set up in town, Lady Byrd Cafe (in the old Pollen space in Echo Park) has placed plant-filled greenhouses around every table, ensuring minimal germ exposure and maximum English garden aesthetics. Couple that with a menu that includes sandwiches, pasta, and pastries, and this new all-day cafe is as good of an al fresco dining situation as you’ll find this summer.
Los Feliz locals’ spot Little Dom’s has reopened their patio seating for nightly dinner and weekend brunch, both of which will involve wood-fired pizzas, sandwiches, and, hopefully, martinis. Reservations required.
Lolo in East Hollywood has one of the most underrated patios on the Eastside, thanks to its quiet setting and massive fig trees. The menu is keeping a tight focus to start, serving snacks and focaccia sandwiches at lunchtime, and at night, they’re doing housemade pastas - spaghetti with sungold tomatoes and eggplant, tagliatelle with mushrooms, and ricotta cavatelli with pepper ragu and pork meatballs. They’ve got an excellent wine selection, too, and are offering all bottles from their shop at retail price for dine-in (plus a $10 corkage).
Another French cafe in Los Feliz, Loupiotte is the ideal place for a 2pm glass of wine when “work from home” isn’t going as well as you might have hoped. Pair it with some creamy polenta with mushrooms and a fried egg, or their excellent burger - made with gruyere and confit d’oignons (jammy onions) - and you’ll be very happy. They’ve got a partially-covered patio with a few tables off Vermont.
One of our favorite bars in Echo Park has been doing limited seatings for a while now, but if you’re a little nervous about grabbing a burger and a beer inside, fear not: They’ve also got a small enclosed patio on the sidewalk, and they’re cocktails are just as delicious (and deadly strong) outside.
Before the pandemic hit, Marco Polo was one of the most interesting new spots in town, serving coastal Italian food and some seriously good handmade pastas on a lush pool deck. They’re back open with poolside dining in Silver Lake. Reserve here.
Virgil Village’s natural wine bar Melody converted into a wine shop for much of the pandemic, and now, they’ve reopened their patio, too. Alongside their long wine and beer list, they’ve got weekly pop-ups from spots like Metztli Taqueria, an excellent high-end taco spot. First come, first served.
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Los Feliz’s summer camp-themed Messhall has reopened for patio dining. Their all-day menu includes a fish fry, smoked ribs, and crab cakes, along with some really great cocktails and a few kinds of oysters. They’ve got an all-day menu weekday lunch and nightly dinner, and a weekend brunch menu. Reserve on their website.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Craft beer hall/vegan pizza specialist Mohawk Bend is back open. They’ve got their regular patio underneath their large marquee in Echo Park, plus some expanded sidewalk seating on Sunset.
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Mediterranean spot Momed is back open in Atwater Village. They’ve got a big patio where you’ll eat lamb and beef meatballs with pine nuts, feta, pomegranate seeds, and tomato ragu, and excellent chicken skewers with chickpea aioli and tzatziki.
The spot formerly known as The Griffin - A.K.A. the bar in New Girl - The Moon Room is newly opened in Atwater with bar food staples like fried pickles and chicken wings.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Needle is a Silver Lake neighborhood spot serving an excellent menu of Hong Kong-inspired food. They reopened a small, self-service patio off Sunset Blvd., where you can comfortably eat your char siu with hot honey glaze, pork chop buns, and duck breast skewers.
You probably know Rockwell more for their burlesque shows than their food, but that shouldn’t stop you from going by for Happy Hour or brunch on the patio. They’ve got two levels of outdoor seating for you and your quarantine buddies to grab a table, order some cocktails, and split a BBQ chicken flatbread.
A Los Feliz Blvd. dive bar in Atwater, The Roost is back open, with a patio where you’ll eat Thai chicken wings and pad see ew, and drink PBR.
photo credit: Holly Liss
Salazar is an innovative Mexican restaurant in Frogtown with some of the best margaritas in town. They’ve opened back up with daily lunch and dinner on their sprawling patio covered with desert foliage (the whole place feels a bit like a peyote trip, and we’re here for it). Also, they’re taking reservations for the first time ever.
Sapp Coffee Shop is an Eastside Thai institution, serving soul-curing boat noodle soup that has gotten us through the darkest days of quarantine. They recently set up some tables in their Hollywood Blvd. strip mall parking lot.
Since Sogo’s opening, their front patio area has been used for people to wait around until a seat became available at the bar inside. Now, the Los Feliz sushi spot has converted the space into dining, meaning you can enjoy their simple, fresh hand rolls while remaining outside and socially distant.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Spoke Cafe is a great Frogtown spot on the LA River Bike Path, serving sandwiches, coffee, beer, and wine. They’ve got a big, open patio, the best vegetarian burger in the city (house-made with smoked mushrooms and beets), and waffle fries that will take you directly back to middle school in the best way possible.
East Hollywood’s local wine bar Tabula Rasa is back open with an astroturfed patio and all-new heat lamps, ideal for the winter that seems to be upon us. Their wine list is tremendous and very well-priced, and they secretly have one of the best Cubanos around.
The classic French restaurant in Echo Park is now offering outdoor dining in their parking lot. The set up includes umbrellas, potted plants, and a lot of steak-frites.
photo credit: Brett Keating
Tartine’s newest LA location is in Silver Lake on a super-busy part of Sunset. Like the other locations in Santa Monica and Hollywood, you’ll get fresh-baked breads and pastries here, along with some newly added wood-fired pizzas.
