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When restaurateur Daniel Frankel moved with his family to Vancouver more than 35 years ago, they found a city unlike those they had left behind in Israel, where the Mediterranean climate was perfect for eating outdoors and people did it in droves.

“When we moved here in 1979, Vancouver patios were three, four, five tables,” he said on the sunny patio of his Tap & Barrel restaurant in Olympic Village. “Al fresco dining wasn’t what it is today.”

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He said his family, along with business partners, changed that when they opened Bridges at the newly transformed Granville Island in 1981.

“That was the first mega patio,” said Frankel.

The city and province were not as quick to see the appeal of eating and drinking while exposed to the elements — and because patios weren’t licensed, part of that pioneering experience meant racking up liquor violations.

Bridges’ sprawling sun-soaked patio, which sits on a dock on False Creek, has been joined by dozens of others throughout the city. They’re popping up like sun umbrellas in all the touristy hotspots — and they’re getting bigger and bigger.