15 best beer gardens in Tokyo to enjoy barbecue and a cold pint outdoors

Taking over the expansive outdoor lawn within the children’s play area at Meiji Shrine’s Outer Gardens, the Forest Beer Garden distinguishes itself from other boozy events in town with its lush green surrounds and bubbling waterfall.

The popular two-hour all-you-can-eat (¥5,500) option includes everything from barbecue beef, pork and lamb to veggies, yakisoba noodles, onigiri and even ice pops. It includes an all-you-can-drink selection of seven kinds of beers, including Kirin and Heineken, in addition to whisky, sours, wine and soft drinks. Despite being one of the largest beer gardens in Tokyo with a capacity for around 900 people, the event can get extremely busy at weekends, so advance bookings are recommended via the website.

This beer garden on the rooftop of Yokohama More shopping mall is inspired by an Asian night market, offering an all-you-can-eat-and-drink Korean barbecue plan with beef, pork, chicken and a variety of side dishes including kimchi, marinated veggies, potato salad, edamame, curry, fries and more. It also includes kakigori shaved ice in six flavours including strawberry, matcha and melon.

You can choose a 60-, 90-, 120- or 180-minute all-you-can-drink package, ranging from ¥3,900 to ¥5,500. The drink choices are quite extensive; there’s refreshing mango and pineapple beers, maitai punch and organic sangria in addition to standard cocktails, beer, highballs and soft drinks.

Take advantage of the warm weather with an evening at Hilton Tokyo’s Beer Garden in the Sky. The gorgeous open-air Californian-style terrace and bar is tucked away on the hotel's seventh floor and offers stunning views of the Shinjuku skyline. 

A great option is the beer garden plan, which includes all-you-can-drink draft beer, wine and soft drinks as well as unlimited bites from the chef's signature surf and turf platter for 90 minutes. You can also order off the separate a la carte menu for more food and drink options. A la carte dishes include nachos, a chef’s cobb salad, avocado toast topped with crabmeat and a refreshing poke bowl with tuna, salmon and octopus. As for a la carte drinks, take your pick from Asahi Super Dry beer, Brewdog Punk IPA, organic mojito or Chandon garden spritz.

Head on over on Friday and Saturday evenings to catch live music with a band performing 1980s rock songs on the terrace. 

To make a reservation, visit the website.

The very classy Marunouchi Hotel moves into the beer garden business from May, but as you'd expect from this nearly century-old venue, it's a much more stylish affair than the boozers on department store rooftops across town.

The standard course (¥7,000) will get you a salad, garlic toast and a meat and seafood skewer platter, plus 120 minutes of unlimited beer, wine, cocktails and sours. Meanwhile, the upgrade course (¥8,000) includes premium drinks like sparkling wine and craft beer from Tokyo Sumidagawa Brewing.

You'll be sitting on the eighth-floor terrace, which is decorated in blue and white and boasts fantastic views over the neighbouring Tokyo Station.

Popular German craft beer brand Schmatz takes over the Lumine Ikebukuro rooftop with its annual beer garden serving modern German cuisine. It features four original craft beers, plus a range of beer cocktails including shandygaff, cassis beer, mango beer and even a banana weizen. There are also regular cocktails, highballs, shochu and wine as well, of course. 

The standard barbecue plan (¥5,500) includes sauerkraut, camembert cheese ahijo with baguette, sausages, beef, pork, and an array of veggies to grill. You can order drinks as you go, but we recommend adding an additional ¥500 to get an all-you-can-drink deal on its four specialty beers on tap.

Head to the rooftop of Sogo Yokohama mall to sip on local beers and dine on Asian cuisine. The two-hour all-you-can-drink plan starts from ¥4,000 on weekdays (¥4,500 on weekends and holidays) and also includes access to the buffet. You can tackle a buffet of hot and cold dishes like vermicelli salad, steamed chicken with sweet chilli sauce, pad thai, green curry and satay.

If you pay ¥6,000, you’ll also have access to local beers from Kamakura Beer.

You can pair your beer with some varied food choices at this beer garden hosted by Seibu Ikebukuro mall. For ¥3,300, you get Chinese hors d'oeuvres such as oven-baked char siu pork, fish with mango escabeche, and mayo covered prawns. If you’re hungry, we recommend getting the barbecue set (¥5,500), which comes with Aussie beef, slabs of pork, lamb chops, sausages and veggies to grill at your table. If it’s a chilly day out, you can always opt for a hotpot set (¥4,000) instead. No matter which food package you choose, you’ll get to drink unlimited beer, highball, sours and cocktails for two hours.

Feast on Korean food at the rooftop beer garden of Ikebukuro Parco. The standard samgyeopsal course (from ¥4,000) will get you a plate of pork belly slices and veggies to grill, plus marinated veggies, Korean chijimi pancakes and plenty of condiments to complement the meal. You can even opt for a standard Korean barbecue course (from ¥4,600), which comes with a platter of beef, pork, chicken and sausage. All meal plans come with an all-you-can-drink deal, where you’ll get makgeolli (Korean rice wine), soju and more.

It’s matcha all the way at this beer garden run by Green Tea Restaurant 1899 in Ochanomizu. For ¥3,500 (¥3,000 with advance reservation), you get two hours of all-you-can-drink matcha-infused booze including matcha beer, green tea dark beer, hojicha beer, matcha wine, sencha gin soda and matcha highball. Three kinds of matcha mocktails are also available – matcha coke, black tea salty dog and spiced sour tea – should you prefer to ditch the booze.

However, separate charges apply for food as you order a la carte. Choose from a selection of savoury dishes made with green tea, including hojicha roasted pork fillet (¥1,100), tea infused ratatouille (¥980), veggies with matcha dip (¥980) and more. Still want more matcha? End your feast with a decadent matcha parfait (¥550) with layers of matcha rice puffs and matcha ice cream.

If you're looking to splurge on a beer garden experience, this is one to consider. Sekirei sits on the lawns of the stately Meiji Kinenkan hall, which is surrounded by the forests of Meiji Jingu Shrine. It’s a beautiful setting where a well-dressed crowd sip beer and wine while lounging in grand wicker chairs.

As you would expect from such a grand location, this beer garden is quite pricey. Beer starts at ¥1,300 and most of the food costs upwards of ¥1,500, with additional seating and service for ¥1,000 (standard seats) or ¥1,500 (cushioned seats). There are also two all-you-can-drink packages that last two hours with course meals included. The five-course meal (¥9,000) includes dishes like roasted duck and katsu sando (pork cutlet sandwich), while the six course (¥13,000) comes with grilled Hida beef and Shiretoko grilled mackerel sushi.

Don't let the price scare you off – this is a summer experience that’s worth paying for. We recommend making bookings in advance via the website.

Futako-Tamagawa Rise shopping centre is once again turning its open-air plaza into a beer garden. This year you can enjoy four kinds of Suntory Premium Malts (from ¥650) and Perfect Suntory Beer (from ¥600). There’s also a beer ball (¥600), which is a mix of beer and soda, plus other beer cocktails (¥650), non-alcoholic beer (¥550) and mocktails (from ¥550). Pair your drinks with a platter of steamed mussels (from ¥980), yangnyeom chicken with cheese (¥1,350), Chinese chicken salad wrap (¥1,350) or sweet banana fritters (¥750).

The rooftop of Lumine Shinjuku has transformed into a beer garden where you can watch movies curated by Cinema Caravan, also known as the organisers of the annual Zushi Film Festival. You can choose from three cuisines – US, Korean or Mexican barbecue courses, all offered in light (from ¥5,390), standard (from ¥5,940) and premium (from ¥6,490) plans.

The all-American course comes with classic beef short ribs, pork, jerk chicken and sausage, accompanied with condiments like buffalo sauce, magic mustard, white barbecue sauce and Kansas City barbecue sauce.

The Korean course, on the other hand, features a one-centimetre-thick slab of samgyeopsal (pork belly), beef short rib, scallops, kimchi and four kinds of dipping sauces including dadaegi miso and yangnyeom (sweet and spicy).

As for the Mexican course, it comes with beef, chicken, pork, as well as seafood options like scallops, salmon and shrimp, and a side of guacamole. All courses come with two hours of all-you-can-drink from a list of 1,000 cocktails and soft drinks.

Enjoy Kanagawa’s best breweries at this outdoor beer garden on the rooftop of Newoman Yokohama. It offers around seven to eight kinds of craft beer on tap from brewers like Yokohama Beer, Sankt Gallen Brewery and Kamakura Beer.

The food inclusive all-you-can-drink course (¥5,000) comes with a bento lunch box filled with bites including cajun chicken, yangnyeom fish, tortilla chilli beans, pepperoncini broccoli, Setouchi lemon garlic shrimp and more. If you’d rather bring your own food or order takeout from the shops nearby, get the two-hour all-you-can-drink craft beer course for ¥3,500.

Stop by the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba to wine and dine on the rooftop terrace with superb views of Tokyo Bay. There’s a wide selection of food including light bites like focaccia and chorizo (¥1,250) and Spanish-style bruschetta with prosciutto (¥1,500), plus more substantial dishes such as cold caprese capellini pasta (¥2,800) and T-bone steak (¥18,500). Beer, wine and cocktails start at ¥1,500, while you can get non-alcoholic drinks from ¥1,200.

The views of iconic Tokyo landmarks like Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower are sure to keep you entertained whenever you visit. Weekends, though, are especially lively with musicians performing live music all day. Terrace Lounge is open for both lunch (12pm-3pm) and dinner (5pm-9pm), with reservations required via the website.

Wildbeach Shinjuku at Lumine Est is an annual beer garden venue that opens from April 17 to October 31. Despite being on a Shinjuku rooftop, this urban oasis will make you feel like you’re by the beach with its tropical decor.  It features five different areas: the Runway Beach with tables, benches and parasols; Luxury Terrace with comfy couches in the shade; Glamping Deck; private Anniversary Room; and the Yellow LA Garden with vibrant picnic tables.

The menu varies depending on where you’re seated, but you can choose to dine on an all-inclusive barbecue plan (from ¥3,900) or choose to bring your own ingredients for a cheaper price (from ¥2,000). Best of all, a standard two-hour all-you-can-drink plan only goes for ¥1,500. However, it’s worth ordering the premium plan (¥2,000) for the specialty cocktails, Asahi Super Dry beer and shandygaff.