Gallow Green
Photograph: Paul WagtouiczGallow Green
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

The best outdoor drinking spots for fall

Celebrate the fall with something boozy and delicious at our pick of outdoor bars in New York City

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There are so many reasons fall in New York is the best: brisk breezes, gorgeous fall foliage, movies you actually want to see. Yet despite the sweat and sunburns of summer, there’s one seasonal aspect we don’t want to say goodbye to, and that’s our ability to down a few with our favorite drinking buddy, Mother Nature. Fortunately, New York has a bevy of bars with porches, patios, gardens and rooftop bars galore, where patrons can chill while enjoying the chill in the air. Here’s our pick of the top 15 outdoor bar destinations to get cozy in all autumn long.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to things to do outside in NYC

Best outdoor drinking spots for fall

  • Sports Bars
  • Greenpoint

Berry Park, located on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, offers a cornucopia of seasonal standards—Bavarian brews, hearty bar snacks, large screens for football fans and a bird’s-eye view of Manhattan’s skyline framed by the fiery reds and golds of fall. It’s easy to stay warm in this breezy outdoor space as Berry Park’s roof has a retractable top. There are also plenty of cute alcoves with seating where you can sneak away and order a warm pretzel ($5) or a currywurst with fries ($8).

  • Beer bars
  • South Slope
  • price 2 of 4
Brooklyn Bavarian Biergarten
Brooklyn Bavarian Biergarten
The chandelier-ornamented Grand Prospect Hall is known for its ’80s home-videoesque TV ads, in which owners Michael and Alice Halkias earnestly promise to “make your dreams come true.” Three decades later, the husband-and-wife duo is making a bid to fulfill its promise with this 500-reveler shrine to the space's Bavarian past and its Brooklyn present. Celebrate Oktoberfest all year long (there's a glass-encased hall for cold-weather tippling) with German and hyperlocal suds, pulled through 24 rotating draft lines that recently included a boisterous, hops-heavy Junior IPA from Radiant Pig and a bright, floral American-style pilsner from Brooklyn’s War Flag.
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  • Cocktail bars
  • Chelsea

This woodland-inspired rooftop bar perched on top of the McKittrick Hotel, home of the interactive Sleep No More, packs as much whimsy as the play. Grab a seat at one of the wooden tables under the canvas ceiling draped with white bunting and twinkling lights, and sip on signature cocktails inspired by the saucy show or indulge in Bottomless Brunch (not, unfortunately, named Drink Some More).

  • Beer bars
  • Astoria
The Garden at Studio Square NYC
The Garden at Studio Square NYC

Ditch the crowd at nearby Bohemian Hall for this modern biergarten open almost the entire year. Picture long communal tables packed with party-happy patrons and pitchers of beers that think outside the Bavarian box, such as Shiner, Goose Island and Strongbow. Live DJs and bands add to the jubilant vibe in this beer hall’s cobblestone courtyard, which is prepped for any kind of weather with heat lamps and waterproof awnings.

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  • Beer bars
  • Downtown Brooklyn
  • price 2 of 4
Kimoto Rooftop Beer Garden
Kimoto Rooftop Beer Garden
Perched 24 stories high in Downtown Brooklyn is Gotham’s first Asian rooftop beer garden, a 225-seat indoor-outdoor setup by the team behind Flatiron’s Mira Sushi & Izakaya. More than 300 varieties of Asian flora (wildflowers, bonsai) are potted around the wood-fitted den, which boasts a panoramic lounge with white-oak benches and fully retractable windows to showcase soaring views of the Brooklyn skyline. At the white-stone bar, choose from a 24-bottle microbrew selection highlighting Far East options, including a hoppy Japanese Ginga Kogen Hefeweizen and a chocolate-colored Sri Lankan Lion stout. For the suds averse, barkeep Dave Danger (Jeffrey’s Grocery) stirs underutilized Asian spirits like Vietnamese black pepper–infused gin and a cask-conditioned whiskey from Japan’s Nagano prefecture.
  • Bushwick
  • price 2 of 4
North Brooklyn gets another vaguely Latin, slushy-pouring boîte courtesy of T.J. Lynch and Richard Knapp, the crew behind Nolita cocktail bar Mother's Ruin. The 40-seat corner joint, outfitted with Crayola-bright stools, potted palms and graffiti-tagged garage doors opening onto the avenue, serves cocktails courtesy of Extra Fancy alum William Pineapple that highlight Latin-American spirits like cachaça, pisco and aguardiente. Two frozens are on offer, including the Not Too Sweet (tequila, apples, peaches, riesling), and the barman's namesake fruit is represented in the Pineapple2, mixing a rum blend with orgeat, dry curaçao and lime. Beer drinkers can find five brews on tap (Braven White IPA, Greenport Harbor Porter) as well as a single can, Tecate.
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  • Cocktail bars
  • Murray Hill
Lounge at Pod 39 Hotel
Lounge at Pod 39 Hotel

This sky bar atop the 17-story Pod 39 Hotel gifts gazers with views of the East River, the Empire State Building and delicious craft cocktails from bar manager Sam Anderson (Hotel Delmano, Freemans). The rooftop, open through fair-weather months, is lined with gorgeous terra-cotta and brick columns, strings of twinkle lights, pops of green from tables and plants and a bar that produces lovely seasonal libations ready to be soaked up with comida à la Salvation Taco, the Mexican restaurant downstairs.

  • Cocktail bars
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4
Mother of Pearl
Mother of Pearl
Bar-restaurant guru Ravi DeRossi revives his former Gin Palace space as a boozy oasis inspired by 1940s tiki culture—festooned with white bamboo floors and lined with hand-carved totem stools. Beach-ready quaffs draw inspiration from their midcentury counterparts, but barkeep Jane Danger freely riffs on those predecessors. The eye-catching Shark Eye plays on a Demerara dry float, swapping rum for curaçao and bourbon in a Jaws-like cup, while the Tide Is High spices up orgeat and cashew milk with smoky mescal. 
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  • Hotel bars
  • Flatiron
Roof at Park South
Roof at Park South

Crave that warm-and-fuzzy, snuggled-in-a-blanket-watching–Dirty Dancing feeling? Then plop down on a plush couch at this Flatiron favorite and order up a gin-based Bohemian with St. Germain, grapefruit and Peychaud's bitters or a piña colada made with overproof rum. The drink prices may be as high at this rooftop lounge, but the space comes complete with fireplaces, equally warm service and exquisite views of the Chrysler Building.

  • Lounges
  • Williamsburg
Spuyten Duyvil
Spuyten Duyvil

This cash-only urban oasis takes its jukebox offerings as seriously as its beer. The laid-back abode includes the musical stylings of Wilco and Leonard Cohen, six revolving yet impressive drafts and a 100-plus bottle list ($5–$45) that focuses on micro European breweries as small as Monaco. Its patio, however, is not Napoleon-size: The ample space canopied by trees is open year-round and adorned with a hodgepodge of mismatched furniture, ivy and brick. It also connects with its neighboring restaurant St. Anselm.

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  • Breweries
  • Upper West Side
  • price 2 of 4
West End Hall
West End Hall
At first glance, the gargantuan suds depot looks more apropos of beer-swilling Murray Hill than a subdued, tree-lined strip of the Upper West Side. It’s no surprise, then, that the Lure Group (Clinton Hall, Governors Club) is behind the brick-walled project, yet another trumped-up booze temple brought to a dried-out nabe in need. Geek out over a wall of gauges and gadgets that manually control the compression and gas ratio for each of the 20 draft lines, including rare offerings like the Belgian-style Brugse Zot ($8)—a crisp, golden ale notable for being the only beer brewed and lagered entirely in the medieval town of Bruges.
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