85 NYC restaurants with heaters for outdoor dining

Though indoor dining is permitted at 25-percent capacity in New York City, a lot of people still don’t feel 100-percent comfortable with the idea. Luckily, the city made its outdoor dining program permanent and year-round and gave restaurants the go-ahead to install outdoor heat lamps. If you’re looking for one of these spots to dine al fresco without shivering, we’ve begun a running list throughout the city. Know of another spot? Let us know in the comments!

Manhattan

Harlem

Harlem Tavern
This neighborhood bar and restaurant has a huge outdoor patio with heat lamps.

Corner Social
Local favorite Corner Social set up a covered, heated outdoor patio where you can enjoy brunch, lunch, and dinner.

Archer & Goat
Opened by “first-generation Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Bangladeshi Americans,” this friendly neighborhood restaurant “offers an array of smaller and larger dishes, including creative riffs on classic American as well as traditional Latin and South Asian dishes,” as well as cocktails. You can enjoy both food and drink on their heated patio.

Upper West Side

Cafe Du Soleil
This French bistro became Insta-famous when they installed 16 plastic “space bubbles” along Broadway. They’re not technically heated, but with the body heat inside, they’ll definitely be a touch warmer than the outside temperature. In an Instagram post, the restaurant wrote that “each one has four large openings, two doors and two windows, which allow uninterrupted ventilation. They are sanitized – cleaned and disinfected – before and after each customer visit.”

The Smith
At all of their four NYC locations, tried-and-true favorite The Smith will have gas heaters installed by the end of October/early November.

Good Enough to Eat
This country-esque spot has one of the strongest brunch games on the Upper West Side, and their sidewalk cafe features overhead heat lamps.

The Viand 
This Upper West Side mainstay is like an upscale diner. There outdoor dining has been moved to a tent with hanging heat lamps.

Kissaki
This intimate Japanese Omakase restaurant has installed overhead electric heaters atop their covered, but still airy, outdoor setups at both their Noho and Upper West Side locations.

Upper East Side

Bella Blu
This neighborhood Italian spot has several heat lamps for its sidewalk cafe.

Cafe D’Alsace
A popular brunch spot, this Alsatian restaurant boasts a beer sommelier–and heat lamps for outdoor dining.

La Goulue
Though it’s no longer in its original 1972 location, this classic French restaurant still feels like stepping back to a “ladies-who-lunch” time. Their covered outdoor dining setup has both plexiglass dividers and heaters.

Festivál
Billed as New York City’s “first farm-to-bar restaurant,” newcomer Festivál has set up three private dining cabanas on their sidewalk. They can seat anywhere from 4 to 8 people and have their own lighting and heaters, windows, blankets, and festive seasonal decor. (Keep in mind this isn’t truly outdoor, but it is private.)

Daniel
If you’re looking for a truly upscale outdoor dining experience, this Michelin-starred restaurant from world-famous chef Daniel Boulud has set up private cabanas that are both stylish and heated.

Hell’s Kitchen

Alfie’s
This gastropub on 9th Avenue has a large outdoor dining setup complete with plexiglass dividers, umbrellas, and heaters.

Casa Del Toro
This Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar has a tented and heated backyard patio where you can enjoy tacos starting at $4 and an array of margaritas.

Midtown

City Winery Pop-Up at Rockefeller Center
City Winery’s Rockefeller Plaza pop-up has been turned into a festive holiday-themed wine garden with views of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree (a great way to see the tree this year). The outdoor wine garden is in the heart of the plaza and is outfitted with heaters (tables are first-come, first-served). You can also reserve one of the private winter domes for eight people. They can fit up to eight people and are specially sanitized between each party. In addition to City Winery’s awesome tap wine, they’re serving seasonal drinks including regular and spiked hot cider, mulled wine, and hot chocolate.

MakiMaki
If you’re in the mood for a sushi roll, MakiMaki is winterizing the walls and rooftop of its outdoor dining patio and bringing in heaters and blankets.

The Smith
At all of their four NYC locations, tried-and-true favorite The Smith will have gas heaters installed by the end of October/early November.

Haven Rooftop
Atop the Sanctuary Hotel on West 47th Street, Haven Rooftop has employed something truly unique to keep diners warm–six high-top tables with a heater located at the legs, with two settings to adjust warmth to your liking. There are also freestanding electric heathers throughout the rest of the space.

Sushi Lab
Also located atop the Sanctuary Hotel, Sushi Lab has room for 30 guests outside, where you can order omakase and a la carte options enjoyed next to electric heaters.

Nerai
Greek island cuisine is on the menu at Nerai’s gorgeous outdoor garden, where electric heaters have been installed on their umbrellas.

Magic Hour rooftop at Moxy Times Square
Diners can expect most tables to have overhead heaters at this all-season indoor/outdoor hotel rooftop lounge.

Oceana
Upscale Midtown seafood restaurant Oceana has extended its outdoor seating patio and added heaters.

Murray Hill

Hortus
Contemporary Asian restaurant Hortus has a hidden garden oasis on its second floor, complete with propane heat lamps, lights hanging above, and umbrellas for when it rains.

Nomad

Patent Pending
This once solely subterranean speakeasy now has 26 seats for outdoor dining, and beginning this month, they’ll be installing five weather-proof canvas huts with heaters, featuring wood benches and cozy seating for six (where you can enjoy a seasonal cocktail!).

The Smith
At all of their four NYC locations, tried-and-true favorite The Smith will have gas heaters installed by the end of October/early November.

230 Fifth
One of NYC’s best-known rooftop bars has always had heat, and it’s now come in extra handy. They historically offer guests snuggies to wear, though we’re not sure what the COVID protocol is now.

Scarpetta
Located at the James New York Hotel, this upscale Italian restaurant has been changing up the floral displays seasonally for its outdoor dining garden café, which is now heated.

Chelsea

Socarrat Paella Bar
There’s something very romantic about sharing a plate of paella, but it’s made even more so in Socarrat’s enchanting (and heated!) outdoor garden, which has twinkly lights, climbing vines and potted plants, and a covered rooftop.

Cafeteria
There’s something for everyone on this neighborhood staple, which has installed heat lamps throughout its sidewalk cafe.

Union Square/Flatiron

Kyma
You can dine in a Mediterranean-style garden outside at this Greek taverna, which has plenty of heat lamps.

Rezdôra
Popular pasta-centric Italian restaurant Rezdôra has heat lamps for its outdoor dining area.

Hole in the Wall
The new location of this Australian restaurant and cafe at the Hotel Henri made for perfect cold-weather outdoor dining; the hotel’s marquee doubles as a giant heater and is also a great way to shelter from a storm.

Isabelle’s Osteria
This new seasonal Italian spot offers dishes like lumache with whipped ricotta and pork ragu, pumpkin pappardelle, and mushroom lasagna. Their enclosed, outdoor veranda is fully heated.

Bread’s Bakery
Grab a chocolate babka (yes, a whole one) and enjoy it at the heated sidewalk seating.

Meatpacking District

Pastis
This classic Meatpacking spot is serving up traditional French fare at its corner outdoor patio, to which they’ve added heat lamps.

City Winery
Entertainment venue and restaurant City Winery opened their massive new flagship at Pier 57 this week. It includes 70 seats outside, which overlook the Hudson River and the new offshore park at Pier 55. The expansive wine list includes 1,200 bottles from 20 different countries, and the menu features Mediterranean-inspired fare like a whipped feta dip and an array of flatbreads. Heat lamps are coming to the outdoor space soon.

The Chester
The American bistro at the Gansevoort Hotel has outdoor tables, banquets with privacy screens, and high-top and counter-style service–all set along the adjacent cobblestone plaza bordered by permanent industrial flower beds and outdoor heaters.

Greenwich Village

Boucherie
Super popular French restaurant Boucherie not only has plastic dividers between its outdoor tables, but they’ve added heat lamps, too.

Senza Gluten
At both their Sullivan Street locations, these quaint gluten-free Italian eateries are offering outdoor seating, but at Senza Gluten Cafe & Bakery they’ve also installed heat lamps within the covered outdoor dining area.

Bar Pitti
Celeb sightings are all too common at Bar Pitti, so if you’re down for Italian food and people watching, snag a table at their outdoor cafe that features partitions and heat lamps.

Olio e Piú
For years, this lovely trattoria has offered a plethora of sidewalk seating thanks to its location on extra-wide Greenwich Street. Enjoy a thin-crust pizza alongside a heat lamp, as well as plexiglass dividers and potted plants.

Pearl Oyster Bar
This “upscale lobster shack” on super charming Cornelia Street has an outdoor tent with heaters.

Silver Apricot
Another Cornelia Street charmer, this new American-Chinese restaurant has a custom-built outdoor tent setup with twinkly lights and planters for ambiance. Bonus–it’s BYO without a corkage fee for up to two bottles.

Murray’s Mac + Cheese
Cheese superstar Murray’s just reopened their Bleecker Street location’s mac and cheese bar with indoor and heated outdoor seating.

East Village

Borrachito
This Avenue A taqueria has constructed a more enclosed seating area to block the wind for its outdoor dining patio, and the team is installing heaters over the coming days, so diners can cozy up while enjoying tacos and cocktails al fresco.

The Smith
At all of their four NYC locations, tried-and-true favorite The Smith will have gas heaters installed by the end of October/early November.

Shuko
Omakase restaurant Shuko may have one of the loveliest outdoor dining locales in all of NYC. The alleyway next to the restaurant has been set up with overhead heaters and twinkly lights.

Kindred
Pre-pandemic, Kindred was known for its natural wines and Mediterranean food, and while this is still true, the restaurant has now been transformed into Après-Ski, a six-week pop-up celebrating Alpine themed food, cocktails, and wine. As they say, “Bundle up in our cozy outdoor Chalet with heaters and holiday cheer.”

Royale
Technically located in Alphabet City, this restaurant specializes in burgers, beer, and bourbon, all of which is available in their spacious, heated backyard.

Lower East Side

Tzarevna
This cozy, contemporary Russian restaurant has installed heat lamps. They’re currently offering a Natural Wine Happy Hour featuring Eastern European wines on Mondays and Tuesdays, which you can enjoy alongside warming dishes like borscht, wagyu beef stroganoff, Adjaruli Khachapuri (the popular Georgian cheese bread).

Ernesto’s
Relative newcomer Ernesto’s is a Basque-inspired restaurant with a seasonal menu that changes daily, and for the winter, they’ve set up outdoor dining with heaters.

Wayla
This popular Thai spot has heated outdoor seating in its backyard. Reservations are limited to 90 minutes so the staff can safely sanitize the table for the next guest.

Noho/Nolita

Musket Room
With a Michelin star, this popular spot serves modern, globally inspired cuisine in their beautiful outdoor garden that features heated umbrellas.

Short Stories
This all-day cafe and bar on Bowery likely has the pinkest outdoor dining setup in the city, and soon they’ll be warming it up with heaters.

Wayan
In a self-description, Wayan tells guests to “think Indonesian flavors paired with a bold French touch.” The restaurant is the first solo venture from Cédric Vongerichten, Chef Jean-Georges’ son. Their customized outdoor dining tent features hanging heat lamps.

Kissaki
This intimate Japanese Omakase restaurant has installed overhead electric heaters atop their covered, but still airy, outdoor setups at both their Noho and Upper West Side locations.

Chinatown

Dr. Clark
NYC’s first Hokkaido restaurant has installed outdoor kotatsu dining tables–low wooden tables set atop futon frames with blankets that have heaters underneath them. The idea is that diners will sit on the floor and pull the blankets onto themselves; they can be controlled with individual remote controls.

Soho

La Mercerie
Located inside the Roman and Williams Guild home furnishings store, this fancy French restaurant really feels like Paris, and their outdoor dining setup is no exception. They’re offering heaters and blankets.

Gitano’s Garden of Love
This trendy Tulum-inspired restaurant/cocktail bar has added space heaters to its jungle-style outdoor setup. They also offer blankets to chilly customers.

Vestry
Recently opened Vestry, a seasonally focused dinner restaurant from Michelin-Starred chef Shaun Hergatt, has 40 outdoor seats with heaters.

Tribeca

Bubby’s
Neighborhood favorite Bubby’s has added heaters for its expanded outdoor dining setup, so you can enjoy your brunch or pie or comfort food no matter what the temperature.

Jungsik
This two Michelin-starred Korean restaurant has created a “cabana-inspired set up” for outdoor dining, with tables featuring mosquito netting and heat lamps. The outdoor space can seat 30 people.

FiDi

Brooklyn Chop House 
This steakhouse overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge has installed three oversized tents for outdoor dining, all of which will be kept at a comfortable 70 degrees thanks to a half dozen industrial-grade heaters overhead (no one wants a cold steak!).

Clinton Hall
Beer and burgers are what Clinton Hall does best, and their huge outdoor dining area has tons of overhead heaters so you can enjoy them–along with items like hard seltzers, crispy chicken wings, and giant pretzels–comfortably.

Brooklyn

Williamsburg

Le Crocodile
This French brasserie turned garden café at the trendy Wythe Hotel will make you feel like you’re dining at a Parisian bistro, with hanging lights, climbing vines, a black-and-white tiled floor, and now, heat lamps.

Talk Story Rooftop
Atop the McCarren Hotel, this open-air tropical cocktail bar will also do its best to feel like the tropics with plants and shrubbery and a roll-a-cover retractable roof and heating system. You can also warm up with a hot seasonal cocktail.

Ten Hope
At the start of the pandemic, this friendly restaurant opened a massive open-air patio, complete with climbing vines, rooftop canopies, and now, over a dozen heaters. The new autumn menu includes dishes like squid ink gnocchi and kofta burgers. The Ten Hope Outdoor Garden is open Tuesday through Friday from 5pm-11pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-11pm.

Ainslie 
Located in a former warehouse building, Ainslie has plenty of options on a normal day–wine bar, beer garden, wood-fire pizzas, steaks. Also on offer is an all-you-can-drink brunch on weekends from 12-4pm. This can all be enjoyed at the whopping 140 outdoor seats, which benefit from electric heaters and blowers, as well as propone heaters.

Strangeways
This 90-seat spot opened in August as an outdoor-only restaurant, so you know the setup is going to be legit. The majority of the outdoor sanctuary is covered and heated.

Gertie
This lovely cafe in Williamsburg has set up an equally lovely heated rear garden. We like that they specify there’s “plenty of airflow and warmth” for you to “enjoy a sticky bun by day and a Dirty Gertie martini + rotisserie chicken by night.” For dinner, it’s reservation-only.

Greenpoint

Fornino
Enjoy a wood-fired pizza in the backyard with heaters.

Bushwick

Roberta’s
Roberta’s is inarguably one of the city’s best-known contemporary pizza spots, and their outdoor tiki garden is now heated. You can make a reservation via Resy; the garden is open every day from 11am-1opm.

Otis
This fun spot serves up delicious plates, cocktails, local brews, and intriguing wines. They’ve set up an absolutely lovely outdoor dining area in a cozy vacant lot next door, as well as more outdoor seating out front, all of which is heated.

Fort Greene

Miss Ada
This lovely little Mediterranean restaurant is well known outside of the pandemic for its sunny, landscaped backyard (They even grow their own herbs back there!), and now it’s being heated for the colder months. There is also a sidewalk cafe for additional seating. Feast on one of their specialty hummus, kabobs, Israeli-inspired salads, or entrees like za’atar-crusted salmon. Miss Ada is currently reservation-only.

Colonia Verde
Order up some Latin American-inspired dishes like trout ceviche, achiote chicken, and churros in Colonia Verde’s magical, heated backyard.

Black Forest Brooklyn
As this neighborhood German restaurant stated in a recent email, “Eating and drinking outside in winter may be new for New York City but in Germany it has always been a way of life especially at the holiday markets during Vorweihnachtszeit.” So grab a hot toddy, glühwein, spiked cider, or Irish coffee and cozy up at the sidewalk tables, which have a roof overhead with infrared heaters. Personal fluffy fleece blankets are also available.

Cobble Hill

Kitchen at Cobble Hill
In addition to large, electric heat lamps, every chair at this cozy restaurant is draped with a plaid flannel blanket.

Crown Heights

Cent’Anni Brooklyn
Known for their handmade pasta, Cent’Anni has added heat lamps to their charming garden.

Prospect Heights

Olmsted
This insanely popular farm-to-table restaurant has always been known for its beautiful garden, which is now outfitted with infrared heaters, as well as blocks of Himalayan salts and torches and individual Cozy Kits that include accessories like blankets and gloves. They’ve also just introduced the new Cozy Cottage menu for outdoor dining, which highlights produce from the lush backyard garden.

Brooklyn Heights

Heights Cafe
This friendly neighborhood spot has installed heat lamps for its sidewalk cafe.

Dellarocco’s of Brooklyn
Enjoy your thin-crust, brick-oven pizza while staying just as toasty as your pie.

The Osprey
Located at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, this farm-to-table restaurant has extended its outdoor dining program with heaters, so you can sip a seasonal cocktail outside overlooking the famous bridge.

Sunset Park

Brooklyn Kura
Industry City’s sake brewery and taproom installed heat lamps and firepits in its scenic courtyard. They’re also offering warm sake (warmed to an exact temperature using a brand-new immersion warmer!) and a sake hot toddy, along with hearty charcuterie options. And once you’ve had your fill, you can head over to Industry City’s outdoor ice-skating rink or get some shopping done at the Maker’s Guild.

Queens

Astoria

Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden
NYC’s oldest beer garden is always a great choice for fall with its brews and brats, but this year the fun can go on even longer thanks to heat lamps in their huge outdoor patio.

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