Beaverton’s sprawling food cart pod is one of the culinary hotspots in Beaverton, with various vendors serving things like po’boys, barbecue, and vegan fried chicken sandwiches. On nice days, the string-light-lit outdoor space is cozy and spacious, while rainy and gray days are best suited to the covered patio with its large heat lamps.

One of the city’s top Italian restaurants for its heaping bowls of silky noodles and crispy polenta dishes, Gabagool offers takeout and has returned to indoor dining. But those wanting to remain outdoors have a few options: There’s the covered patio area with bench seating and free-standing tables, and there’s a few free-standing tables out on the sidewalk with umbrellas. When the sun beats down on warmer days it’s best to go for the covered patio, but on more temperate evenings there are plenty of choices.

One branch of the Sesame Collective restaurant group, Multnomah Village’s Yalla features a menu of Mediterranean dishes like meze platters, pastrami, kebabs, and a pretty excellent fried chicken with harissa honey and pickled cauliflower. Opening in the summer of 2020 meant patio seating was essentially required, so the team went all out. In front, diners can find individual picnic pods, covered and partially walled, complete with cherry-red bussing trays. In back, a covered wooden deck with heat lamps and white metal seating provides for small groups. 

Part of the appeal of this long-celebrated steakhouse is its moody, old-school interiors, with its table-side lamps and fireplaces. But as a pandemic necessity, Ringside decided to design its own outdoor dining space, and it’s a beauty. Tables draped in the same white tablecloths as the inside fill the secluded, tree-lined space, covered and accompanied by heat lamps. The restaurant takes reservations for dinners of dry-aged steaks and James Beard’s favorite onion rings.

Portland’s eclectic vegetable-centric restaurant, G-Love, has put its ample front patio space to good use ever since the pandemic allowed. Like the dining room, the patio is bright and minimalist, with the white tables providing a stark contrast to G-Love’s vivid culinary creations and colorfully garnished mixed drinks. For the rainy weather the patio is still covered (with white tents, naturally), heated, and lighted.

The fabulous Thai barbecue restaurant Eem has gone through a number of pivots during the pandemic, offering everything from family meals for takeout to delivering cocktails. For outdoor dining it offers a number of booths made of wood and corrugate plastic for solo diners and small groups. Each has individual fire pits, allowing visitors to stay warm while enjoying items like the brisket burnt ends in white curry and wild and flowery cocktails.

Bretonic seafood restaurant Normandie has accepted vaccinated diners inside for a while now, but those who still feel more safe dining al fresco will be comfortable on the erected wooden sidewalk patio. It’s now fully enclosed, save for one side, and decorated with assorted plants. Tables are heated by individual gas heaters, so even when the skies are gray and full of rain, it’s still a pleasant environment to enjoy some savory cocktails and charred octopus or gochujang pork lettuce wraps.

SE Division cocktail bar and restaurant Double Dragon has always had a nice patio. However, during the pandemic, the team has poured time, money, and effort into bolstering the sprawling sidewalk patio, adding roofs, low fences, heat lamps, and umbrellas for shade. Order a couple of the bar’s tropical cocktails and a thick pork belly or tofu sandwich, and help usher in spring.

The elegant, local-obsessed fine dining restaurant Quaintrelle sports a back patio that’s nearly as stunning as its interior. Fully secluded from the street and surrounded by bamboo and other plants, it offers a charming respite where diners can dig into colorful plates of decoratively prepared scallops and herb-laden vegetable dishes. In hot weather, the warehouse-style glass doors at the entrance to the patio are brought up, creating a seamless passage from the interior out to the patio, so those sitting at the bar can have a refreshing breeze from outside while still staying shaded.

Vegan, worker-owned Sri Lankan restaurant Mirisata serves colorful dishes of aromatic, herb-laden dhal, curry, fried rice, and sambol alongside roti and fritters. All of it is transportive to warmer climes, especially under the covered, heated wooden patio out front on Belmont.

This Alberta Iraqi restaurant is home to both a front and back patio, the building flanked by eye-catching a-frames under which diners devour lamb khema or crispy, doughnut-shaped falafel. On chillier, rainier days, it’s best to warm up with a cup of tea; on warmer days, snack on meze in the sunshine.

Lyf Gildersleeve’s sustainable fish market and restaurant Flying Fish Co. has built a charming little patio where diners can enjoy the seafood and wine of the market in relative comfort. Short, bright-toned hardwood walls, blue umbrellas, and bamboo offer protection from the rain, while heaters keep things warm. Recently, it upgraded the space with Chef Shack, a food cart serving guest chef specials and hosting live music.

From the team behind Gado Gado, Oma’s Hideaway has opened its spacious back patio for dining, arrayed with umbrella-shaded tables and heaters; toward the front, diners can sit in partitioned outdoor dining “booths” along the perimeter of the restaurant, festooned by brilliantly patterned tablecloths. In either space, diners can feast on the Malaysian and Chinese cooking, as well as an exceptional cheeseburger served with crinkle fries.

The popular taqueria on NE Fremont offers two kinds of winterized outdoor seating: the spacious tent out back offers full cover and heat, along with picnic tables for dining, while the covered wooden patio in front offers more stylish seating, also partially enclosed and heated. At both, diners can enjoy plates of tacos and enough margaritas to drive away the chill. 

Gado Gado was quick to set up outside dining on its parking lot in Hollywood after COVID-19 struck, and even after facing numerous crises including break-ins and snow storms, it’s still going strong. Plant-filled, covered, and heated with standing heat lanterns, it’s a lovely and cozy place to dine on the restaurant’s signature Indonesian and Chinese curries, dumplings, and salads.

This Burnside Indonesian cafe has extensive outdoor seating surrounding the restaurant, where visitors dip spoons into bubur ayam, a turmeric-scented rice porridge, or sayur nangka, a curried jackfruit soup. Lined with plants, the patio is warmed by heaters on cold days and breezy on hot days — with a few tables in the sun for those who wish to bask.

A new food hall in nearby Happy Valley, Valley Public House offers thick square slabs of Ranch pizza and enchiladas and moles from Tamale Boy. The bar keeps a slate of beverages on tap, from beers to cocktails to kombuchas, with two outdoor patios — one family-friendly and another 21+ — sporting stone fireplaces and cushioned chairs. Order takeout food from any of the businesses, grab a few drinks, and nab one of the outdoor seats for dinner or weekend brunch.