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

Touted as Tokyo’s highest beer garden, Mount Takao Beer Garden sits 488m above sea level beside the cable car station, with views stretching across Tokyo and even to Yokohama on clear nights. It’s a popular post-hike stop, offering an all-you-can-eat buffet of Japanese, Chinese and Western dishes, plus 90 minutes of free-flowing beer, wine and cocktails.

To say that this place gets crowded at weekends would be an understatement. The spring edition runs from mid-March to late May, with a chance of extending into summer. One thing to note: the last cable car departs at 6pm (6.30pm on weekends).

Shinjuku welcomes a brand new Korean pub-style beer garden, located on the rooftop of the Lumine Est shopping complex in the heart of the city. You can choose from four meal plans: the Pocha course (¥3,500), which includes yangnyeom chicken and bulgogi kimbap; the Korean Chicken BBQ course (from ¥4,000), offering chicken marinated in sweet and spicy miso sauce as well as salted green onion sauce; the samgyeopsal and beef galbi course (¥5,000), featuring makgeolli-aged samgyeopsal and seafood pancake; and the premium BBQ course (from ¥6,000), which builds on the samgyeopsal set with the addition of wagyu steak. All four courses come with a two-hour all-you-can-drink plan, with the options including fruit-flavoured soju, makgeolli, highballs, and both Korean and Japanese beers, along with unlimited banchan (Korean mini side dishes), French fries and curry.

Popular German craft beer brand Schmatz takes over the Lumine Ikebukuro rooftop with its annual beer garden serving modern German cuisine. The premium all-you-can drink plan features three original craft beers, plus a range of beer cocktails including shandy gaff, cassis beer, mango beer and even a peach weizen. Additionally, there are regular cocktails, highballs, wines and soft drinks to choose from as well. 

The standard barbecue plan with the premium 2-hour all-you-can-drink option will set you back ¥6,500, and includes spare ribs, beef shoulder loin, specialty sausages, chicken, corn and an array of veggies to grill. If you're looking to save, the standard all-you-can-drink lager beer plan at ¥6,000 is worth considering too.

Make a reservation via the official website.

The rooftop of Lumine Shinjuku has transformed into a Japanese summer-themed beer garden with a BBQ menu inspired by the aesthetics and beauty of Japanese summer. You can choose from Fuji, Hanabi (fireworks) or Fune (boat) barbecue courses, all offered in light (from ¥5,390), standard (from ¥5,940) and premium (from ¥6,490) options. The Around Japan Nippon BBQ Premium Plan offers a taste of all the cuisines in one go, for ¥8,140.

The Fuji course comes with wagyu beef sirloin, beef short ribs, pork marinated in miso, Hokkaido-style deep-fried chicken, and sausages, accompanied by an assortment of veggies and two sauces – wasabi soy sauce and regular BBQ sauce. The Hanabi course features a beef short rib, pork marinated in Hokkaido-style miso, chicken marinated in sake lees, shrimp, scallops and an assortment of veggies. The Fune course comes with a beef short rib, Tokachi glazed pork, shio koji marinated chicken thighs, thick sirloin wagyu steak, and an expanded assortment of veggies. All three sets include a 90-minute all-you-can-drink deal where you can choose from a list of 160 cocktails and soft drinks.

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 (¥5,980; ¥4,980 on Apr-Jun weekdays excluding hols) option includes everything from barbecue beef, pork and lamb to veggies, yakisoba noodles, fried garlic rice, sausages and even ice pops. It includes an all-you-can-drink selection of eight kinds of beers including Kirin and Heineken, in addition to whisky, sours, wine and soft drinks.

Continuing from last year, the beer garden is offering a special all-you-can-drink craft beer option for an additional ¥1,500. The selection includes four craft beer options from Spring Valley Brewery, like the Hojun Lager 496 and Jazzberry. Despite being one of the largest beer gardens in Tokyo with a capacity for around 1,000 people, the event can get extremely busy at weekends, so advance bookings are recommended via the website.

Futako-Tamagawa Rise shopping centre is once again turning its open-air Chuo Hiroba Plaza into a beer garden. This year, you can enjoy three kinds of Suntory Premium Malts (from ¥750), the Tokyo Craft pale ale (from ¥750) and Suntory Master's Dream beer (from ¥800). There’s also tropical whisky and shochu-based cocktails (from ¥750), featuring a mix of liquor and fruit such as pineapple, mango and coconut. Cocktails like the tropical Waikiki Piña Colada (¥750, ¥650 for non-alcoholic) can be enjoyed as a mocktail, and non-alcoholic beer (¥600) is also available.

Pair your drinks with the generous Surf & Turf Hawaiian Tacos party plate (¥3,900), two-piece crispy chicken tacos (¥880), a poke bowl with salmon and yangnyeom sauce (¥1,380), steak Loco Moco on rice (¥1,450) or crispy fried Calamari (¥880).

The event is subject to cancellation in the case of inclement weather. Check the event's X page before visiting.

Tokyo Tower’s alternative to the usual summer beer gardens kicks off the outdoor drinking season with a double dose of whisky highball festivals. Head to the terrace at the base of the tower for a wide selection of highballs alongside snacks like karaage and grilled bacon.

There’s also a meatier option on the roof of the Tokyo Tower Foot Town, where the Tokyo Tower Rooftop Highball Garden serves all-you-can-eat jingisukan, the Hokkaido-born lamb barbecue named after Mongol warlord Genghis Khan.

Two hours of all-you-can-drink alcohol and limitless jingisukan costs ¥6,300 (teens aged 13-19 ¥4,300, primary school students ¥3,300, children aged 4-6 ¥2,300, all with non-alcoholic drinks, of course).

The Tokyo Tower Ultimate Kaku Highball Garden at the base of the tower is open until October 12, from 4pm-10pm on weekdays and 12noon-10pm on Sat, Sun & holidays.

The Tokyo Tower Rooftop Highball Garden is open until October 18, from 5pm-10pm daily. Make your reservations here.