Dining Outdoors
One of the highlights of summer for us is outdoor dining. With a large patio and a barbeque always ready to, it’s easy to enjoy the great outdoors in the comfort of our own backyard. Sometimes, however, we like a change of scenery. That’s when we venture out and enjoy one of the many spectacular restaurant patios in the Lower Mainland. One of our favourite places is Bridges in Granville Island. If you haven’t been to Bridges in a while (or have never tried it at all), now is the perfect time since the restaurant has recently been renovated. If you’re looking for casual dining, check out the downstairs portion of the restaurant, where you can choose from the lounge, restaurant or patio. On sunny days, the patio is packed and rightfully so. The view and ambiance is fantastic. Plus their nachos are excellent! If you’re looking for a more formal night out, make a reservation upstairs where you can still enjoy the view and a fantastic meal.
If you’re looking for more of a dine-in-the-park kind of experience, try Romano’s Macaroni Grill. We ate at the restaurant earlier this year and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that their food was just as good as we remember it. The pizza there is authentic thin crust. The pasta is superb. And if you’re a chocolate lover, be sure to try their decadent chocolate cake. They give a good-sized portion so save room. During the summer, the restaurant offers tables outside on their sprawling front lawn. It’s quite a sight! Now that’s a romantic dinner you won’t forget!
One restaurant that we’d like to get to this summer is the Hart House at Deer Lake. It’s been years since we’ve dined there, but from what I remember, it was very good. I was perusing their website recently (www.harthouserestaurant.com) and discovered that they too open their lawn for diners in the summer. The restaurant backs on to Deer Lake so you can imagine the view from the back. I noticed they have a Night in Provence event coming on August 24th where they will create Provence inspired dishes, paired with wine. It sounds like a nice night. The restaurant serves brunch as well so if we can’t make it out for dinner some time over the next month, we’ll definitely try their bruch menu. I can’t say no to eggs benedict!
If there’s an amazing patio restaurant you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear about it. Happy dining!