8 Downtown Akron Restaurant Patios for Dreamy Summer Dining

You love the Lockview for their gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and goldfish. If you want to level-up your dining experience (literally!), slide through a nondescript door inside the restaurant, to the right of the main entrance. It’ll lead you up a stairwell and onto a rooftop patio, where there’s a bar, plenty of tables, and the great big sky above. If you’re lucky—read: there on a Friday night May through September—you’ll get to experience the city’s Rock the Lock concerts from a truly delicious perspective. Occasionally, the Lockview even hosts live musical performances of their own up there.

El Patrón’s patio has all the vibes. It’s not quite a rooftop patio, but it’s got the elevated feel of one. It arguably has the best skyline views of any restaurant patio in downtown Akron, made more sensuous by tropical plants, warm string lighting, comfortable seating, pergolas and canopies, and frequent summer parties. Order up a few tacos and one of their craft palomas or margaritas, and revel in Akron’s tiny slice of Miami.

If El Patrón’s patio offers incredible views of downtown’s skyline, Crave’s is one of the prime options for dining in the skyline’s shadow. It takes up the greater part of Main Street’s wide sidewalk and is centrally located near Lock 3 Park, Lock 4, Cascade Plaza, the Akron Civic Theatre, Akron Soul Train, and the soon-to-open Akron History Center—basically, in the heart of the neighborhood, where there’s always something going on. When you want to dine on interesting, unexpected New American cuisine in the middle of downtown’s plentiful summertime activities, Crave is it.

Barley House: They’ve got trivia nights, a pool table, arcade games, casual pub food, plenty of draft beer, and huge front windows that open like garage doors to create a seamless flow from the sports bar’s unpretentious interior to their fenced sidewalk patio. It’s a great place to enjoy the breeze and munch on some wings, franks, flatbreads, or handhelds before spending a perfect summer night at a RubberDucks game or weekend concert.

To dine on DBA’s open-air patio is to dine on a precipice. It’s another with stunning views—to the south lies all of downtown Akron, and to the north, past a steep drop, the sprawling green of Cascade Valley, where the train runs and the Little Cuyahoga flows. To add to the magic, DBA’s patio has a firepit, an essential element for summer nights spent in good company. Settle in for a multi-course meal and impeccable atmosphere.

Akronym Brewing boasts award-winning craft beer, as well as a menu of signature sandwiches and snacks. Their patio is situated in a delightful little alcove carved into the slope of East Market Street, delineated by brick ledges and flowerbeds. It’s in the heart of the Historic Arts District, where nearby arts and culture venues like the Akron Art Museum, Summit Artspace, BLU Jazz+, Musica, and the Akron-Summit County Public Library are always hopping, no matter the season. Akronym also opens their Biergarten, located around the corner on Main Street, on select days for special summer events.

It’s hard to beat the gorgeously eclectic interiors of High St. Hop House and Baxter’s Speakeasy. For the days and nights that call for being outside, though, they happen to share a patio that overlooks Maiden Lane (the alley with the DANCE sign) in the Historic Arts District. Order a unique pizza from Totally Baked, grab a signature cocktail or draft beer from High St. Hop House or Baxter’s Speakeasy, find a table, and drift away on the music that spills from nearby performance venues.

The 1 Food & Spirits, located inside the BLU-Tique Hotel at the corner of Main and Market Streets, has a delightful menu of tapas, salads, handhelds, and decadent desserts, as well as some impressive, curated cocktails. Enjoy their culinary selections on their ambient, cozy patio, complete with plenty of comfortable seating and privacy from the bustle of East Market Street.