Summer time climate arrived late this yr within the Bay Space, however the balmy evenings from now via early autumn ought to present loads of alternatives to take pleasure in eating on a shaded terrace or twinkle-lit patio. Listed below are eight fantastic new spots from Sunnyvale to Lafayette to Belmont and past.
Tropa, Lafayette
Chef JB Balingit’s latest restaurant is Tropa, a contemporary FIlipino restaurant that took over the previous location of The Hideout. (Picture by Cat Fennell, courtesy of Tropa).
JB Balingit knew it was going to be a weak and private journey to open a restaurant so close to and expensive to his coronary heart, however he was prepared for it.
Balingit, who was born in Los Angeles however grew up within the Philippines, simply opened Tropa, serving trendy Filipino meals that required years of artistic planning and on-site analysis throughout the Pacific Ocean.
“I needed to understand the ingredients and flavors again,” he stated. “Filipino food is so culturally diverse. As a colony of Spain, our cuisine is heavily influenced by Spanish flavor. Also a lot of Indian flavors, a lot of curries, a lot of Chinese and Japanese influences. You can expect the menu to be rooted in Filipino flavors and inspired by our rich heritage.”
For individuals new to Filipino meals, he recommends the oxtail kare-kare, a stew with peanut butter sauce, lengthy beans, eggplant and okra, served with a aspect of shrimp paste.
“And the Filipino barbeque I’m excited about,” Balingit stated. “That’s a beer’s best friend.”
Balingit packed suitcases stuffed with memorabilia from the Philippines to cureate the house, which is the previous location of The Hideout, one other Balingit restaurant that was moved to a extra outstanding downtown location two years in the past.
The out of doors patio seats 35 individuals and is constructed round an outdated mulberry tree. “It jogs my memory lots of consuming within the province, he stated.
Particulars: Open for dinner Wednesday via Saturday, with Sunday brunch coming quickly, at 3406 Mt. Diablo Blvd in Lafayette; tropaeats.com.
Valley Goat on the Treehouse, Sunnyvale
The spacious patio at Valley Goat restaurant in Sunnyvale. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
The greenery-filled inside blends seamlessly with the inexperienced out of doors eating spots at “Top Chef” Stephanie Izard’s debut Northern California restaurant.
Her Valley Goat is the star restaurant tenant of the primary Treehouse Resort in the US. Constructed on the previous Sheraton website on North Mathilda Avenue, that website east of Freeway 101 supplied loads of room to unfold out. Mixed, the indoors and outdoor can comfortably seat 250.
One alfresco possibility, an extension of the bar, affords stand-up tables and different informal seating for fast bites and drinks — or may be booked for after-work teams and gatherings. The opposite patio accommodates diners searching for a full brunch, lunch or dinner expertise, with beneficiant spacing between tables.
Like Izard’s Woman & the Goat eating places in Chicago and Los Angeles, the Valley Goat presents globally influenced, regionally sourced, shareable dishes — together with one that includes that signature ingredient, the favored Goat Empanadas. (BTW, the catchy theme took place as a result of the title Izard is a kind of mountain goat within the French Pyrenees.)
Notable dishes on her inaugural Sunnyvale menu additionally embody the Sticky Pork Shank; Wooden-fired Eggplant with Tahini, Carrot Hummus and Tzatziki; Pork Stomach Noodles with Wooden-fired Pineapple; and Spiced Fish Tostadas.
Izard acquired her massive break on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” within the fourth season, changing into the primary lady to seize the title. She received the James Beard Basis award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” in 2013 and has chalked up quite a few different awards and raves.
Particulars: Lunch/brunch, bar bites and dinner are served every day, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 1100 N. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale. Reservations are really useful; www.sevenrooms.com/discover/valleygoat/reservations/create/search
Naschmarkt, Pleasanton
The patio space at Naschmarkt restaurant in downtown Pleasanton. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
Including to different Naschmarkts in Campbell and Palo Alto, the Pleasanton location includes a stylish and spacious inside eating room with further seating at a royally appointed bar.
Out entrance, in a first-rate location to look at passing foot visitors, is a captivating patio with flower-wrapped trellises and butcher-block tables, every embellished with a valuable little lamp. Giant umbrellas block the solar throughout summertime, and warmth lamps can be found to mood California’s model of bitter German winters.
Naschmarkt attracts its title from the most important open-air produce market in Vienna, and recent elements sourced from native producers is vital to its philosophy.
A basic veal Wiener Schnitzel is a well-liked possibility and is the meat goulash with Hungarian pepper and bitter cream. Pan-seared salmon is served with parsnip puree and a blood-orange discount, and vegetarians can fork up eggplant lasagna with spinach and smoked mozzarella. Dessert is perhaps a sacher torte with apricot preserves and whipped cream or a Salzburger nockerl – a sort of fluffy, vanilla soufflé – with blueberries and vanilla ice cream.
The beverage menu is a very spectacular doc encompassing every part from European beers (pilsners, lagers, sours, high-octane Belgians) to fortified wines to zeroproof cocktails spiked with tropical fruit. One is perhaps tempted to shut the eyes and plop a finger down at random, to see what enjoyable factor exhibits up: a Guldren Draak 9000 Quadruple beer, as an example, or a Candy “Ol” Fig Normal cocktail with caramelized Black Mission fig syrup, whiskey and black walnut liqueur.
Particulars: Open every day (lunch obtainable Thursday-Sunday) at 310 Principal St., Pleasanton; naschmarktrestaurants.com
Rouge Lounge, San Carlos
Jane Underwood and her son Sam, from Redwood Metropolis, with their canine Dalton, a 9-year-old yellow Labrador Pitbull combine, sit in Rouge Lounge’s out of doors seating space in San Carlos, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Downtown San Carlos has a brand new wine bar run by husband-and-wife house owners Steve and Sema Tosun. Inside, pink partitions create an old-school supper-club vibe, whereas the surface patio feels plucked off the streets of Paris.
Their European-style wine bar has a curated but eclectic wine checklist, together with native choices from San Carlos-based Flying Suitcase Wines. And small bites like a cheese board assist to sate prospects too.
“We’ve always wanted to do something like this,” Sema Tosun says. They’re from Turkey and have lived in Redwood Shores for properly over a decade.
Sema has labored within the nonprofit sector supporting low-income seniors via Fund a Want, and Steve beforehand ran one other Peninsula restaurant. After they discovered their present location, one arrange for a wine bar reasonably than a full restaurant, they went for it.
Early suggestions suggests it’s simply what the group was searching for, she says.
Particulars: Open 1-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 2-9 p.m. Sunday at 890 Laurel St., San Carlos.
Prescott Market, Oakland
Traditionally industrial West Oakland can all the time use extra meals choices and inexperienced areas. The newly opened Prescott Market fulfills each in a tiny however highly effective approach.
What started as an evening market on the road – which remains to be occurring as soon as a month via October – this yr upgraded right into a brick-and-mortar advanced with a number of eating places, an Almanac Beer taproom and a butcher store.
Ally Northam, of Oakland, holds her drinks as her canine Gretchen Wieners, left, and Ajax stroll along with her to an out of doors desk at Prescott Market in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
A hall of vibrant murals of basic vehicles and native wildlife results in the market’s out of doors space, which holds as much as 400 individuals and has a verdant patio hemmed with planters of reedy vegetation. There are picnic tables and seaside umbrellas, a big sandbox for the youngsters and garden video games like soccer darts for kid-hearted adults. Stay bands pop up Friday night and consumers wander in Sunday from the neighboring farmers’ market. On recreation days at Raimondi Park, count on Oakland Ballers followers hanging out to tailgate.
Diners can sit at a desk and order through QR code with their telephones; the eateries textual content them when it’s prepared. However what to get? Nicely, a Hugs Hefeweizen or a Buenas Vibras Mexican lager from the Almanac West Oakland Clubhouse is a pleasant strategy to sit back – or if it’s actually heat, maybe a boozy slushie.
Pizzeria Violetta serves up pies with a bubbly crust and recent toppings from native farms and butchers. It’s a pleasure for taste lovers, with combos like a Scorching Hawaiian with sugar-cured pineapple and pickled jalapenos and a Candy Little Pig with brown sugar-candied bacon. Quick Instances Burgers is critically lauded for its smashburgers and duck-fat shoestring fries. Its Oklahoma-style fried-onion burger is a tacky, juicy mess made by urgent thin-cut onions and grass-fed beef on the grill.
Particulars: Open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and eight a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday (Alamanac and Pizzeria Violetta generally open later) at 1620 18th St., Oakland; www.prescottmarket.com
Rise WoodFire, Santa Clara
The out of doors dinning space at Rise Woodfire Pizza & Rotisserie within the Rivermark Village in Santa Clara, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Restaurateur Omid Zahedi, who remodeled the historic San Mateo practice station into an enormous eatery and bar with outdoors eating through the pandemic, has now renovated a spacious Santa Clara venue for wood-roasted prime rib, pizza and fish, together with house-baked pies.
This Rise Woodfire — at Rivermark Plaza, within the former Piatti — affords seating for about 200 diners contained in the restaurant, with a modern-meets-rustic design that matches the elevated consolation meals. The patio accommodates scores of friends, with a big, breezy house favored for events and company occasions, plus a fire-pit gathering spot and umbrella-shaded tables.
The South Bay menu matches the Peninsula one. Pizzas embody such combos as Medjool Date-Chevre, Funghi-Fontina, Calabrese-Honey and Artichoke-Spinach. There’s even fire-roasted pineapple for the spicy Hawaiian-style pizza.
The wood-roasted Complete Branzino, served atop romesco sauce, has been significantly fashionable with the Santa Clara crowd, Zahedi stated, as has a brand new providing, Hen Parmesan, from chef Domingo. Prime rib is accessible as an entree or a French Dip sandwich, and the rotisserie rooster comes with two sides and a dipping sauce.
Particulars: Open every day from 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 3905 Rivermark Plaza, Santa Clara; www.risewoodfire.com
Amara, Belmont
In search of out of doors eating that’ll whisk you away to the Mediterranean for a day?
Look no additional than Belmont, the place Peninsula restaurateurs and couple Ajay Walia and Reena Miglani opened the doorways of their new restaurant idea, Amara, in January. You would possibly acknowledge them for his or her different Peninsula eating places, Rasa in Burlingame (considered one of California’s first Michelin-starred Indian eating places) and Saffron in San Carlos.
However this restaurant is one thing totally different, constructed round serving to guests discover a sense of trip escape proper on the town. Full with its personal signature scent meant to evoke a Mediterranean isle – a mix of Sicilian lemon, bergamot, lime blossom and cedarwood — the ambiance is probably greatest skilled from the backyard, a landscaped out of doors eating space full with a water characteristic and plush greenery.
The saffron-marinated, roasted half-chicken at Amara in Belmont is served with charred Persian cucumber and tzatziki. (Courtesy Kristen Loken)
On the menu, you’ll discover an array of small plates, bites and spreads, from caviar and charcuterie to hummus and barbecue lamb brief ribs with garlic tahini sauce. Mains embody a 32-ounce Tomahawk steak with za’atar butter and Brussels sprouts, a complete branzino, a half rooster marinated with saffron and rabbit tajine. Search for desserts like a baklava sundae or citrus cake paired with pickled, roasted strawberries and pine nut ice cream.
And don’t neglect brunch: Moroccan roast lamb, house-made yogurt and shakshuka are only a few of the choices. For an additional-special deal with, pair it with one of many restaurant’s morning aperitifs just like the Tropical Garibaldi, that includes Campari, fluffy pineapple and orange juice.
Particulars: Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday and 4-9 p.m. Tuesday at 1015 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont; amararestaurants.com.
Calicraft Brewing Co., Walnut Creek
Situated throughout the lot from Calicraft’s authentic taproom in Walnut Creek, Shadelands Beer Backyard is open every day (photograph by Evan Bass).
When one door closes, a 6,500-square foot out of doors beer backyard opens.
Such was the case for Calicraft Brewing Co., which closed its authentic location in downtown Walnut Creek after the constructing was bought to a brand new proprietor, however re-opened as an entirely-outdoor venue this Could.
Subsequent yr Calicraft will re-open its indoor facility, which can characteristic two tales of house with a full kitchen, restaurant, brewery, vineyard and distillery, in addition to a 5,000-square foot patio hooked up to it.
For now, Calicraft is working as an out of doors hangout spot referred to as Shadelands, which is centered round a 40-foot-long container bar on the identical plot of land. There’s extra seating, extra bogs, fireplace pits, umbrellas, string lights, a youngsters play space and 30 timber to maintain you cool and comfy when you have your beer.
“It has that Mediterranean vibe,” stated brewmaster Thomas Dang Vo.
Situated throughout the lot from Calicraft’s authentic taproom in Walnut Creek, Shadelands Beer Backyard is open every day (photograph by Evan Bass).
Calicraft can be internet hosting nightly meals vehicles, together with Oakland-based Citizen Pizza, which is there 4 nights every week. Citizen’s chef, Jeffrey Amber, may also be the top chef for Calicraft’s restaurant when the brand new location opens subsequent yr.
First, Calicraft will open its “Upstairs” location, which can characteristic a rooftop patio on Mt. Diablo Blvd. A grand opening is anticipated by the top of this summer time.
Particulars: Situated throughout the lot from Calicraft’s authentic taproom, Shadelands Beer Backyard is open Monday, 3-8 p.m., Tuesday via Thursday, 3-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon-10 p.m., and Sunday,12-8 p.m. at 2700 Mitchell Drive in Walnut Creek; calicraft.com.
Initially Revealed: August 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM PDT
