Star Tribune Best Patios: Twin Cities & Duluth Guide

If you've been Googling 'Star Tribune best patios,' you already know what you want: a trusted, vetted list of the outdoor spots worth your summer evening, curated by people who actually eat outside in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and beyond. The Star Tribune has published annual patio roundups every summer since at least 2017, and those lists have become a ritual for Twin Cities diners. This guide pulls together what those lists have covered, tracks how the patio scene has shifted year over year, and adds fresh picks, practical details, and regional extensions the Star Tribune doesn't always include, from Duluth's lakefront to suburban riverfront gems.

Who this guide is for

Whether you're a Minneapolis local hunting for a new happy hour spot you haven't tried yet, a Saint Paul regular who wants to know which patios opened this season, or a traveler passing through who refuses to eat indoors when the weather cooperates, this is your starting point. I've spent more summer evenings than I can count working through Twin Cities patios, from rooftop bars in the North Loop to shaded beer gardens in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill neighborhood, and I've pulled together the practical details that actually matter: Can you bring your dog? Is lunch served? Will you be able to hear your dining partner, or is it wall-to-wall noise? This guide covers Minneapolis, Saint Paul, the broader Twin Cities metro, and Duluth, with notes on seasonality, neighborhood context, and what each spot genuinely feels like once you're sitting in it.

Why people search for 'Star Tribune best patios'

The Star Tribune's annual patio guides have built up real credibility with local diners, and searching for them by year has become a habit. People aren't just looking for 'good patios in Minneapolis.' They're specifically trying to recover a list they remember seeing, often one from a specific summer. The 2017 roundup, 'Dine outside! See our archived guide to the best patios in Minneapolis 2017 for the original selections and context. 11 new Twin Cities patios to enjoy a summertime meal' (June 21, 2017), introduced a batch of patio openings that still anchor the scene today. The 2021 feature, '66 more Twin Cities area restaurant patios where you can spend your summer' (June 18, 2021), was a sprawling pandemic-recovery list that felt genuinely celebratory after a brutal indoor-dining year. For historical context, see the Star Tribune's 2021 patio roundup referenced here as best patios st paul 2021, which reflected the pandemic-era rebound in outdoor dining. The 2022 guide, '19 patios in the Twin Cities area to suit every summer mood' (June 15, 2022), was more curated, leaning into moods and vibes like rooftop, lakeside, and covered options. See our curated list of the best patios in Twin Cities 2022 for the full 2022 roundup. The 2023 piece, '13 fresh patios in the Twin Cities area to savor this summer' (May 31, 2023), zoomed in on new or significantly refreshed spaces. For a focused roundup of those refreshed spaces, see our guide to the best patios Minneapolis 2023. By 2024, the Star Tribune was publishing multiple patio-related pieces per season, including early-spring opener guides (March 1, 2024) and a dedicated happy-hour list, '10 patios with happy hours to celebrate early spring' (March 13, 2024). Searching for any of these by year is completely understandable. The problem is that Star Tribune articles get updated or paywalled, and a patio that made the 2021 list may have closed, renovated, or changed hours by now.

How the Star Tribune's patio coverage has evolved

Looking at the arc from 2017 to 2024 tells you something useful about the Twin Cities patio scene itself. In 2017, the story was about new openings: fresh construction, new neighborhoods developing outdoor dining capacity. By 2021, the mood had shifted entirely. That 66-patio list was partly a practical pandemic-recovery resource and partly a collective exhale, celebrating the return of outdoor dining after a year when patios were often the only legal way to eat at a restaurant at all. The 2022 and 2023 lists are noticeably more editorial: fewer entries, tighter curation, more attention to specific attributes like heated enclosures, water views, and service quality. The 2024 coverage branched into niche angles like shoulder-season happy hours, which signals that the audience has matured. Readers aren't just asking 'where can I eat outside?' anymore. They're asking 'where can I eat outside in March with a heat lamp and a well-priced cocktail?' That evolution mirrors what we try to do here: go beyond the annual snapshot and give you durable, attribute-specific information you can actually use for any given outing.

How this directory differs from the Star Tribune

The Star Tribune is a newspaper. Its patio lists are journalism: well-reported, but published once, anchored to a specific date, and increasingly paywalled. Our directory is designed to be a living resource. We update listings when hours or ownership change, we pull in reader contributions and cross-reference them against local sources like Eater Twin Cities, MSP Magazine, Meet Minneapolis, and Explore Minnesota's tourism guides. We also cover geography the Star Tribune doesn't always prioritize, including Duluth's short but spectacular patio season and suburban riverfront spots around the metro. Where the Star Tribune gives you a snapshot of the best patios in June of a given year, we try to give you the best patio for your specific situation on any given weekend, whether that's a dog-friendly lunch on a Thursday or a rooftop cocktail at golden hour on a Friday. If you want to dig into a specific year's picks or explore a particular city's scene in depth, the related guides on this site cover Minneapolis by year (2017, 2022, 2023), Saint Paul, the Twin Cities as a whole (2022, 2024), and Duluth.

Top patios in Minneapolis

Minneapolis has a genuinely impressive range of outdoor dining settings for a city that can't use them for half the year. That compressed season means competition is fierce and quality is high. The spots below have shown up across multiple curated sources (Star Tribune, Eater Twin Cities, MSP Magazine, Meet Minneapolis) and hold up on the practical details that matter most.

A few personal notes here: Brit's is the kind of place where an hour turns into three without you noticing, especially on the lawn bowling green at dusk. Surly's beer garden has a come-as-you-are energy that I genuinely love. Loud, communal, good beer, bring your dog and your whole group. Psycho Suzi's is the one I recommend to out-of-town guests when I want to show them what a Minneapolis summer evening actually feels like. The river, the tiki torches, the slightly chaotic joy of it all. For lunch, Eat Street Social's sidewalk seats are hard to beat for pure neighborhood energy.

Top patios in Saint Paul

Saint Paul's patio scene is distinct from Minneapolis in ways I find hard to fully articulate but easy to feel. The neighborhoods are denser and older, the pace is a notch quieter, and some of the best outdoor seating is tucked into spots you'd walk right past. Note that sidewalk café operators in Saint Paul need separate city licenses and permits for outdoor seating beyond what a standard restaurant license covers, which is part of why the scene here rewards the independent spots that do the work to make their outdoor space genuinely great. For a focused, city-by-city list, see our guide to the best patios in St. Paul.

W.A. Frost is the one I bring people to when they say they want a special evening but not a stuffy one. That garden patio, with its old trees and string lights and the quiet energy of Cathedral Hill around you, is as good as outdoor dining gets in this part of the country. Saint Dinette is my go-to for a working lunch that doesn't feel like a working lunch. And if you haven't sat on Forepaugh's porch on a warm June evening, put it on the list.

Notable patios across the Twin Cities region

The metro area has excellent patio options well beyond Minneapolis and Saint Paul proper, and these are the ones that consistently come up in Explore Minnesota's tourism guides and local editorial sources as genuinely worth the drive.

• Lola on the Lake (Excelsior, Lake Minnetonka): A lakefront deck with sweeping views of Lake Minnetonka, strong brunch and lunch service, and the kind of sunset light that makes every photo look effortless. Best visited on a weekday if you want a seat without a long wait.
• Dock Cafe (Stillwater): Right on the St. Croix River with a deck that puts you directly over the water. Stillwater's bluffs and the river traffic make this one of the most visually compelling patio settings in the entire region. Seasonal hours; check before making the drive.
• Cuzzy's Bar and Grill (White Bear Lake): Waterfront access, casual atmosphere, strong local following. Dog-friendly outdoor area. Good for a relaxed afternoon with no agenda.
• Lilydale Regional Park area (south of St. Paul, Mississippi River): Not a restaurant patio in the traditional sense, but the riverfront setting here has spawned several seasonal food-and-drink operations worth watching. Check current listings as operators change year to year.
• Crooked Pint Ale House (Eden Prairie and multiple metro locations): Consistent, well-maintained patios across metro locations. Not destination dining, but reliable for a post-work beer with good sightlines and comfortable seating.
• Cooks of Crocus Hill (St. Paul and Minneapolis): More of a specialty retail and cooking school, but worth noting for its courtyard events and seasonal outdoor programming popular with food-focused locals.

The suburban and riverfront options tend to reward spontaneous visits more than the city locations do. Traffic clears faster, parking is easier, and the views are often better. If you're willing to drive 30 minutes, Stillwater's river deck scene alone justifies the trip on a clear summer afternoon.

Best patios in Duluth

Duluth operates on a completely different weather calendar than the Twin Cities. NOAA's 30-year climate normals show Duluth averaging notably cooler summer temperatures than Minneapolis, with Lake Superior's thermal influence keeping things crisp well into June and bringing fog and wind that can make an exposed patio uncomfortable even on a technically sunny day. That said, when the weather cooperates, Duluth's patio scene is genuinely spectacular. The combination of harbor views, the lift bridge, and that clean lake air is hard to replicate anywhere. High season here runs roughly mid-July through mid-September. Outside that window, look specifically for covered or heated options. Duluth's municipal code includes sidewalk café definitions and encroachment permit requirements that shape which spots can operate outdoor seating and where, so independent operators here have generally earned their patio space through genuine effort.

I'll be honest about Duluth: I've sat on that Canal Park deck in a jacket in July, watching fog roll off Superior, and it was still worth it. There's something about that harbor that makes you willing to accept conditions you'd never tolerate at a Twin Cities patio. The lift bridge going up while you're mid-bite is a genuinely good dining experience. Just bring a layer and don't go in expecting a hot, Mediterranean-style evening. Bent Paddle is my pick for a casual patio afternoon: great beer, good energy, and you're in a neighborhood that feels authentically Duluth rather than tourist-facing.

How to pick the right patio for your situation

The best patio for a solo lunch is rarely the same as the best patio for a group birthday dinner, and the best spot for a dog-friendly Sunday afternoon is a completely different calculation from the best spot for a quiet conversation over wine. Here's how I actually think through patio decisions when I'm planning an outing.

A note on seasonality and permits

Patio season in the Twin Cities typically runs from late April through October, with the sweet spot being June through September when temperatures are reliably warm enough for comfortable outdoor dining without a jacket. NOAA's 30-year climate normals confirm that Minneapolis and Saint Paul average their warmest and most stable conditions between June and August. Minneapolis's zoning code (Title 20 and Chapter 265 sidewalk café provisions) and Saint Paul's separate sidewalk café licensing process both shape when and where patios can legally operate, which is partly why some spots open their patios later in spring than you might expect. In Duluth, the season runs shorter, roughly July through mid-September for reliable comfort, and the municipal permit process for sidewalk café encroachments means the spots with great outdoor seating have specifically invested in making it work. Always check current hours before heading out, particularly for shoulder-season visits in May or October, when patios may be open but operating on reduced schedules.

How we verify and update these picks

Every patio in this guide has been cross-referenced against at least two local editorial sources, including the Star Tribune's published lists from 2017 through 2024, Eater Twin Cities' updated patio map (last updated May 2024), MSP Magazine's seasonal roundups, Meet Minneapolis's neighborhood dining guides, and Explore Minnesota's tourism patio features. Where sources conflict or a venue hasn't appeared in recent coverage, we note it. We also use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to check historical versions of Star Tribune patio articles when original pages have been updated or paywalled, which lets us confirm year-over-year changes in the lists. We do not list a patio we can't verify as currently operating based on recent sources.

We actively want your updates. If a patio on this list has closed, changed its dog policy, started serving lunch, added a heat lamp setup, or just gotten significantly better or worse, let us know through the contribution form on the venue page. Reader submissions go through a quick editorial check before they're reflected in listings, but that process is fast, usually within a few days. The goal is a guide that stays accurate week to week through the season, not just when it's first published. If you've found a patio we haven't covered yet, in any of these cities or beyond, we want to hear about that too.