By now we all know Boylan Bridge Brewpub is a great place to enjoy the newfound spring weather. But as we’re finally seeing the end of long winter months of tightening our coats and strolling past the metal chairs stacked outside our favorite establishments (sometimes with snow piled on top), we’re starting to remember what it’s like to enjoy a meal or drink under that old friend the sun, and in the process we’re falling in love with our old favorites all over again.
On this, the inaugural day of spring, we let you know where we love to spend some time outside. What spots are you looking forward to rediscovering?
Take our poll on your favorite outdoor Restaurant/Bar >
Photos courtesy of Abby Ladybug; you can view her photostream here.
Tim
The patio at Sadlack’s Heroes is not just an outdoor space, it is the community’s front porch. Conveniently located across from the NCSU bell tower, nestled between the record shop and the bus stop (jokingly referenced as the last stop before Dix Hill), it is a place where everyone is welcome. At any given time you’ll find a mix of academics, street punks, dogs, kids, career professionals, and the tradesmen that are at the core of this blue collar country club. From patrons strumming guitars to full fledged rock shows, the patio at Sad’s is a tried and true venue for both local and touring acts. As for people watching, Sad’s is hands down the best. Aside from the general sidewalk action and steady stream of drivers stuck at the intersection, you have prime real estate for viewing organized activities by the bell tower such as Iraq War protests and Critical Mass. On a good day, you almost feel like you’re participating even though you’re just swilling a cold one across the street and soaking up the sun like a lizard on a rock.
Chad
The Seaboard Cafe at Logan’s Trading Company is a great place to have lunch on a beautiful day. While Sadlack’s is definitely my favorite spot to hang outside, The Seaboard Cafe provides a great compliment to roaming for herbs and summer crops. I usually get one of their burgers and sit out in the filtered light near all the herbs. The patio is situated on what used to be the platform of the train station. The smell of dirt while eating lunch is great. Sometimes dragonflies will come by and recite funny poems in your ear.
David
I hope I’m not stepping on any toes when I recommend the Legend’s patio to both straight and gay folks looking for a nice place to have a drink outside. The courtyard within Legend’s is massive, stocked with fountains and benches and an outdoor bar. The lighting is just enough and the open sky above offers something that I don’t think any other bar or restaurant has in downtown Raleigh. The seclusion of the courtyard is comfortable and quiet compared to the warehouse district outside its door, and the club as a whole is one of the cleanest establishments in the city. Legend’s is a gay playground so straight folks should go in expecting that, but as a straight man I have never felt uncomfortable there; in fact it was the first place I kissed my girlfriend.
Acree
While Morning Times is in some ways the obvious choice (we can’t publish an article without praising an Empire property), to talk about Raleigh patio spaces and not mention the sidewalk seating on Hargett Street would be a travesty.
I can think of few moments that rival the sense of genuine community felt when enjoying a drink outside the Times on a sunny afternoon. The Raleigh Times Bar and Morning Times coffee shop, rather than enclosing customers in a sectioned-off patio out back like most restaurants, plop their tables right on the sidewalk. Surely this grew out of necessity as much as choice – no downtown property is without its space limitations – but the Times turned limitation into opportunity by breaking past the fourth wall and challenging the American addiction to privacy and obsession with “personal space.”
Paradoxically, the restaurants’ engagement with the public gives customers a sense of breathing room and space to stretch their legs, rather than a confined feeling of being stepped on by passersby or drowned out by traffic sounds. Most customers find it refreshing to mix freely with bicyclists and runners, dogs and shoppers, the noises of the street and the view of downtown. On the Hargett Street sidewalk, there are no beer drinkers, no coffee drinkers, no bums or passersby, just the people of Raleigh sharing an outdoor space.
Jedidiah
Outdoor patios have a few requirements in my book: urbanity, energy and view. Sadly, Raleigh has few, if any, patios that fulfill the view requirement (maybe Solas and Boylan Bridge Brewpub), but there are many that thoroughly provide an urban setting full of energy. Raleigh Times wins hands down, but since Acree has already chatted up The Times, I’ll talk about two pizza joints that are great places to enjoy food and a beer while sitting outside. Lilly’s Pizza in the Five Points area has been a Raleigh institution for years. During the summer months the tables outside are hard to grab and standing around with beer in hand waiting for a spot is common. While Five Points is slowly losing its edge, Lilly’s holds down the culture that is left in the area (especially the street culture). The only problem I have with Lilly’s outdoor patio is the fact that it isn’t connected to Third Place’s and there’s too much of a defined edge by the sidewalk.
In contrast to the defined edge that is created at Lilly’s Pizza, Vic’s Ristorante Italiano in City Market is probably one of the most urban outdoor patios in downtown Raleigh (besides The Times and possibly Fayetteville Street Tavern). Vic’s is a fabulous place to have a bite to eat for lunch or dinner when it’s warm outside. The energy in City Market is almost always bustling with people coming and going from Artspace, shops and the Farmer’s Market. The cobble stone streets hint at a European vibe, as do many other aspects of Vic’s outdoor experience. Vic’s Ristorante Italiano is about as close as Raleigh gets to having a storefront bistro on Boulevard St. Germain in Paris.
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