Here at Uwishunu, we’re obviously big fans of outdoor dining. It’s an awesome amenity and Philadelphia does a great job with it.

But now that summer and early fall have passed, it makes outdoor dining a little more challenging. However, it’s by no means out of the question. You can still enjoy a little outdoor dining and drinking as long as you pick the right spot.

First of all, the extended forecast has plenty of days in the next two weeks pushing the upper 50s and even into the mid 60s. Second of all, and more importantly, you really just need to find places with auxiliary heating devices, like heat lamps and/or fire pits.

Lucky for you, there are a number of restaurants and bars across the city that boast heated outdoor seating.

Here are our top picks for where you can go to enjoy some cozy food, drinks and company outside despite the days getting ever shorter and shorter…

• Frankford Hall: One of our favorite new bars of the summer is making sure their giant outdoor space remains usable well into the colder weather months. Stephen Starr’s Fishtown beer garden has added more than 15 heat lamps to their outdoor space plus they’ve added a fire pit to the center of it, making the space not only usable once the temperature drops, but downright toasty. No wonder Travel + Leisure just recognized Frankford Hall as one of America’s best beer gardens. Well done!

• Parc: Not only does Parc have the most outdoor seating in the Rittenhouse neighborhood, it’s also one of the best people-watching spots in the entire city. More than 75 seats wrap around the restaurant on Locust and 18th Streets. You don’t have to forgo a coveted spot once brisk weather hits; there are heat lamps aplenty affixed beneath the restaurant’s awnings — perfect for morning, noon or night. Commence the French onion soup consumption.

• Rouge: Rouge started it all back in 1998 when it opened its sidewalk cafe on Rittenhouse Square, the very first in Philadelphia. It’s a great spot to enjoy early evening cocktails with friends, or a full meal, beneath the warm heat lamps along the restaurant’s stretch of 18th Street.

• Devon: Devon too rocks the heat lamps in the awnings above their sidewalk seating, meaning all three restaurants on Rittenhouse Square reassuringly provide supplemental heat for your outdoor dining comfort. So if one place appears to be full on your next visit, you can conveniently try next door.

• City Tap House: Featuring extensive outdoor seating on two terraces and a row of five stone fire pits overlooking Walnut Street, this West Philly spot combines great food and great beer in a cool atmosphere. The fire pits, turned on every night unless it’s raining or snowing, facilitate outdoor fun deep into the fall. Can you say homecoming weekend meetup?

We’ve got a lot more below, including TMG, The Corner and Varga.



• MidAtlantic Restaurant & Taproom: There’s a full-blown fireplace outside on the patio, so you can enjoy Chef Daniel Stern’s exquisite local cuisine or a few craft beers even after the leaves change colors.

• Landmark Americana: The third University City newcomer to make our list with outdoor fire pits, Landmark has awesome fire pits outside that are turned on pretty much whenever the bar is open, except in the snow or rain.

• Tria: Electric lamps at both locations, Rittenhouse and Washington Square West, mean you can enjoy your wine, beer and snacks under the evening sky without the necessity of bundling up in a scarf and gloves. Layering, however, is always recommended.

• Twenty Manning Grill: Twenty Manning crushes it with their outdoor seating: they’ve got awesome spray misters to help beat the heat in the summer, and come autumn they break out the heat lamps, installed above the awnings, to make for perfect cool weather outdoor dining on one of Rittenhouse’s most charming blocks.

• The Plaza Cafe at the Comcast Center (by Table 31): The Plaza Cafe offers a supreme people-watching spot along in the heart of the business district, to say nothing of the tallest skyscraper in Pennsylvania standing just 50 feet away. They also have heat lamps for the colder months so you’re good to go.

• Continental Midtown: The rooftop lounge is Continental Midtown’s pièce de résistance and, in fact, recently earned it a spot on USA Today’s list of 10 best rooftop bars in the U.S. It’s open all year long, with heat lamps on the outdoor section and a roaring fire inside.

• The Corner: 13th Street and Midtown Village get into the action with the Corner’s roof deck, which has a few heat lamps for diners who realize the deck is a great spot to go for a cocktail and a bite on a crisp fall afternoon.

• Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge: There’s also the hidden courtyard at Raw around the corner, which has warming heat lamps and tarps overhead. It stays open throughout the year, weather permitting, at customers’ request to sit outside.

• Sampan: The Graffiti Bar behind the restaurant, a private open-air patio, offers great bar- and high-top seating in which to drink and dine all year long, thanks to heat lamps to keep you warm.

• Varga Bar: The stretch of 11th Street outside Varga is equipped with heat lamps to warm outdoor diners.

• Gunners Run: The pub is protected from winds on all sides, thanks to its location inside Northern Liberties’ Piazza at Schmidts. It also has heat lamps on its patio area, fired up at customers’ request. Think weekend football watching on the jumbotron.

• Chenango: A fire pit on the outdoor patio makes this Arrow Swim Club restaurant warm enough for alfresco hanging out. The hearty comfort food will warm you even further; think burgers, toasty flatbreads and BBQ pork sliders. **UPDATE: Chenango is currently closed for the season.

That’s our list. If we missed any great ones, let us know in the comments. We were hoping to include a restaurant on East Passyunk, but unfortunately we could not confirm a single spot on the Avenue that offers heated outdoor dining, not even Cantina’s newly expanded outdoor seating area.