10 hidden backyards, gardens and patios for outdoor dining in NYC

Brooklyn Ice House is dazzling. It isn’t just the gruff exterior, the dark-at-high-noon interior, the more-cluttered-than-most rows of bottles behind the bar, the worn and sometimes torn oxblood banquettes, or the rather good cheeseburgers. Brooklyn Ice House is dazzling because, on your first visit you’ll think you know exactly where you are, and then you’ll step out onto the gravel in its big enough, bright back yard and into a seemingly totally different venue.

One of Staten Island’s much-lauded restaurants, Bin 5 comes with free views for guests traveling to the borough by ferry, and further rewards them with its back yard, where a predominately red sauce menu is served in a space encased by picket fences and appointed with potted plants.

Being that they are the premier destination for clandestine meetings, it’s hard to tell what’s going on behind closed doors at most hotels. Inside the Moxy East Village, down a staircase, barely in view of an open kitchen that turns out general interest menu items, and just off its cavernous bar and dining room, Cathédrale’s terrace is enveloped in greenery beneath a retractable roof.

Although its 116th street facade appears fairly narrow from the sidewalk, through the back and down a few stairs, Lolo’s Seafood Shack has picnic tables, benches and bar stools in saturated nautical shades vibrant enough for your next, or first in a while, going-out social media photo shoot.

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Now in its 21st year, Palma is double semi-obscured. Situated on Cornelia Street, which is only a block long, it’s the kind of place you’d have had to give knowingly-toned directions to in the days before Google maps. It does look darling even to passersby, who might catch a whiff of pappardelle alla bolognese from the sidewalk, and it’s even lovelier with a glass of wine in the verdant backyard that splits the difference between a garden and a patio.

This is an easygoing bar in a neighborhood that sometimes isn’t. It has a full complement of booze, so order what you want, but it’s best known for its frozen margaritas, served in Mason jars and usually topped with a cherry. And in light of recent local news, people have been known to smoke on its unexpectedly spacious back patio.

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Without any windows on its east or west walls, this Atlantic Avenue bistro is dimly lit any time of day, but still skews more toward a romantic wine cellar than, say, a scary bat cave. Make your way to the back, however and the light at the end of the tunnel is revealed to be a big, beautiful backyard garden anchored by the Platonic ideal of a leafy tree. Bacchus is so pretty, in fact, that they do a swift wedding business back there, so have a backup plan if your heart is set on dining outdoors in the area.

This is exactly the kind of place people refer to as “off the beaten path” even though it’s about as close as you can get to a bus stop. The Columbia Waterfront District restaurant’s Italian-adjacent menu includes spaghetti with clams, paccheri with lamb sausage, and hot chicken Milanese, all available with wine, beer and cocktails in a large backyard peacefully distanced from the thoroughfare beyond the front door.

Boldly claiming a name as “The Astoria Local,” Sweet Afton has seats out front on 34th Street, space for a few dozen inside, drinks, elevated bar food and a blue-hued back patio that’s photogenic enough for your Vaxtagram without looking like this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

Wayla opened to acclaim in 2019, diners and critics alike fawning over its homestyle Thai menu and chicly styled back patio that felt like a particularly fashionable friend’s coveted private outdoor space. This past year’s necessary pick-up and delivery options haven’t dampened a desire to dine amid its flora IRL.