After a long and cold Minnesota winter, there’s nothing better than looking forward to some hot weather and outdoor dining. Rochester has plenty of options if you feel like relaxing on a patio in your shorts and T-shirt. The restaurants and bars on our list are ideal whether you plan on enjoying a drink or a bite to eat. Here are some of the best outdoor dining locations put together by our team of local experts at Tom Kadlec Kia.
Canadian Honker
Canadian Honker is a family-friendly restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Its owner, Joe Powers, founded the restaurant in 1984, but after years of growth, he built the restaurant’s current building in 1998. This location includes an outdoor seating area, so you can enjoy a meal throughout the summer months. If you’re visiting the Mayo Clinic and St. Mary’s Hospital across the street, a lunch on Canadian Honker’s patio can provide welcome fresh air and time outside.
The restaurant uses the freshest ingredients, including garden-fresh produce with many of its dishes. Its diverse menu features items such as Honker Ribs and Garlic Mushroom Chicken. They also offer daily specials and boxed lunches. The restaurant is named for the giant Canadian geese that spend the winter at Silver Lake. This breed of giant Canadian geese is well-loved locally, as biologists once thought they were extinct.
Beetle’s Bar and Grill
Beetle’s Bar and Grill is a great choice if you’d relax with friends and enjoy some American cuisine on an outdoor patio. Their menu features many burgers, sandwiches, and wraps, like their Smokehouse Wrap or Walleye Wrap, that are perfect for a summer day. They also offer a wide selection of salads and soups, if you’d like to keep it light. Or try Beetle’s specially broasted chicken for lunch or dinner.
To accompany your delicious meal, you can also enjoy some live music at this venue. Their normal schedule provides a DJ on Tuesday evenings and a changing lineup of bands on Saturday nights.
Chester’s Kitchen and Bar
Located in Rochester’s University Square, Chester’s offers the ideal setting to relax outdoors with your meal. Their menu offers a wide selection of dishes suitable for casual dining, such as healthy bowls, salads, and burgers. They also have more artisanal dinners, such as steaks, pastas, and seafood dishes. Chester’s has a private dining room that’s available by reservation and can be paired with a customized menu.
Chester’s convenient downtown location makes it a good choice if you feel like shopping after dinner. Once you’ve enjoyed the fresh air with your meal at Chester’s, you can check out the many stores located in University Square.
Whistle Binkies on the Lake
Whistle Binkies is a sports bar run in the style of a traditional British public house, more commonly referred to as a pub. It’s named after the Scottish term for a traveling musician who plays at weddings or gatherings. You can find the pub in two locations in the Rochester area, and one is close to a lake and ideal for relaxing outdoors with a cold drink or bite to eat. You could spend all day eating on their huge patio of outdoor seating and playing on their two sand volleyball courts and lakeside cornhole sets.
You can enjoy lunch or dinner at the bar seven days a week. Although their name originates in the British Isles, their menu offers a standard variety of pub fares with international flavors, such as their Greek salad, Cuban sandwich, sesame ginger ahi tuna wrap, burrito rice bowl, and Irish stew. They also offer separate gluten-free and vegetarian menus that are full of options.
Twigs Tavern and Grille
Twigs Tavern and Grille is the premier destination in Rochester if you’re looking for gluten-free dishes. The restaurant has a separate gluten-free kitchen where food is prepared to guard against cross-contamination. They also serve many standard favorites on its menu, so you’re likely to find something to suit everyone’s taste buds.
Twigs really enjoys alfresco dining, so they’ve put energy into building an outdoor oasis. It features a small stream and a garden full of beautiful flowers. If you’re dining in the evening, you’ll enjoy the magic of the patio’s twinkling lights and hanging lanterns. And when the temperatures drop, you can rely on outdoor gas heaters to keep the chill at bay. Rochester Magazine awarded Twigs the title of Best Outdoor Dining experience in the city.
Hot Chip Burger Bar
If you want to enjoy the sun and warm temperatures while savoring some of the best burgers in town, stop by Hot Chip Burger Bar. They offer two kitchens: the flagship Hot Chip and the Vegan Hot Chip. Whether your family’s eating beef, vegan, or a mix of both, you’re sure to find a hearty burger that excites your senses. On their flagship menu, why not try their legendary All Wheel Drive, which includes a whopping four burger patties, onions, pickles, and special sauce? The vegan burger bar serves a bold range of burgers, each starting with a blended smoked mushroom patty.
This is a burger bar with a few extras, including artwork on the walls created by local artists. Many of the items on the menu have tongue-in-cheek names, such as the “Call Me the Dude” burger and “You’re Killing Me Smalls” vegan burger, as this bar enjoys its humor and ’90s retro decor. Just make sure to head out back to their shaded outdoor seating area to enjoy your burger and some great summer breeze.
City Market
Conveniently situated downtown, City Market serves up classic New York-style deli sandwiches. It’s the perfect place to stop by during your lunch break or enjoy a light meal if you’re visiting the city for the day. The outdoor area is perfect if you’d like some fresh air while grabbing a bite.
The large sandwiches from City Market are served on freshly baked bread and rolls and include fillings like hand-cut meats, gourmet cheese, crisp produce, homemade spreads, and salads. You can also order salads and soups or make your meal into a box lunch.
So, there you have it! The local experts at Tom Kadlec Kia just recommended some of the best spots to visit if you’d like to eat alfresco in Rochester, Minnesota. Did your favorite restaurant make the list? Would you like to tell us about a visit to a restaurant we profiled that you enjoyed? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your comments and suggestions.
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