For a few months, our usually brisk evenings turn balmy and breezy. Restaurant patios serve as scenic gathering spots with strung lights, flickering tea candles and abundant greenery. Menus shift to showcase seasonal stone fruits, buttery corn on the cob and a rainbow of tomato varieties.

Alfresco dining emerged as a necessity during the pandemic, and many of the sidewalk and parking lot patios that debuted during that time are now permanent fixtures. As new restaurants open around the city, some are betting hard on our trademark sunshine by being entirely outdoors. You can sip on global wines paired with Spanish tapas as you watch the sunset over the Arts District from a backyard bistro or duck away from a bustling Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake onto a cozy covered nook serving home-style Persian cuisine. In Santa Monica, a verdant shrine to open-fire cooking appears like a mirage in an industrial art complex.

Mild weather makes outdoor dining a popular year-round activity in Southern California, but there’s something about summer patio dining that feels like a seasonal rite of passage. From hidden, vine-wrapped nooks to sprawling spaces engulfed in shade, here are 20 of the most stunning outdoor restaurant spaces across L.A., Malibu, Orange County and as far as Santa Clarita.