Six To Try: Where To Drink and Dine Outdoors This Spring

The Hot List is the definitive guide to Sydney’s most essential food and drink experiences, updated weekly. Learn more.

Every year at the end of winter, I fall asleep and dream of the impending spring. Making the most of longer evenings, catching more sunshine, smelling the flowers with my seemingly hay fever-proof nose and, most importantly, dining al fresco.

Everything is better outside. A pint with your pals in a beer garden. A wine under a footpath umbrella after a beach day. A coffee and a croissant on a streetside stool in the sun. There’s unrivalled people-watching. Maybe someone walks past and compliments your shoes. Someone else attempts a parallel park in their cool old car. A guy on a motorbike ruins the vibe. You’re out there and you’re in it, wherever it is.

Then I wake up and I know it’s time to get into the spring of things. Sydney has no shortage of al fresco drinking and dining spots. And the best ones aren’t always purpose-built. Sometimes an overturned milk crate on the footpath does the trick, or a couple of small streetside tables. These spots from the Hot List are some of our favourites.

Ama, Surry Hills

Out the front of Ama, seated on those little wooden stools and tables, you’re part of the scenery in Surry Hills. They’re the best seats in (or out of) the house to slurp your way through Ama’s signature noodle bowls, and you can slurp a little louder outside with fewer people around you.

Sunlight filters through here; with some trees and taller buildings around, you catch just the right amount without having to sit directly in it. Cooper Street isn’t too busy, so you’re not overwhelmed with traffic noise. There’s even a small roof to protect you from the rain if it comes out of nowhere. And the iced orange espressos hit better in the sun too.

Appizza, Darlinghurst

It’s impossible to miss Appizza. The bright red milk crates and stools with punters perched on them. The chequered stairs, the red and black umbrellas. The smell of pizza floating out onto the Oxford Street corner as you walk past. It’s almost the restaurant equivalent of peacocking. And dining al fresco often comes with an audience.

There’s a reckless abandon about Appizza – the lack of real furniture, the DIY feel it has about it, the chef’s non-committal approach. “We don’t know how long we’re gonna be in this location, but we don’t care. The space was too cool to keep closed,” chef Stefano De Caro told Broadsheet when Appizza opened. It’s here for a good time in any case, and you can feel it in the air on the busy corner of Oxford Street as you dig into a huge slice.

Ard, Stanmore

Sitting in the sun on a little stool is the only way to enjoy your sweet treats at this charming corner store. Ard, Christiana Daaboul’s bakery, has space inside to take your order and that’s about it. The Stanmore corner is the place to be on weekend mornings. Locals sit on little red stools with Lebanese-leaning sweets; others have flocked from afar to join the line on the shady side of the shop.

It’s a rewarding ritual: queue in the shade, order your baked goods and take them outside into the sunshine to enjoy them, along with a coffee. It’s a little DIY, a little lo-fi and a whole lot of romance at this quiet Stanmore corner store.

La Buvette, Potts Point

This little slice of Paris in Potts Point fits just nine people inside, so the outdoor area is a necessity. It’s worth poking your beak in to take a gander at a delightful duck statue, but streetside is the spot to be. By day, the north-facing al fresco area gets plenty of light. After dark, it’s illuminated by the green glow of the neighbouring laundromat’s neon sign.

The point here is to drink, and to do it outside. There’s a lengthy, mostly French, wine list, as well as some excellent house cocktails, such as La Buvette’s house Martini or Cafe Royal Margarita – a riff on Marg ancestor the Picador. If you ask us, they taste that much better on a footpath chair with the afternoon sun hitting your face. But don’t just take our word for it.

The Old Fitzroy, Woolloomooloo

Maybe the only beer that tops a footpath beer at the Old Fitz is the first one you have with your dad when you turn 18. But it’s close. Sitting under the striped umbrellas on the corner of Dowling and Cathedral streets is a real treat: you’ve got the choice of direct sunshine, filtered light under the big tree or shade under the umbrellas. There are even heaters out here – not that you’ll be needing them anymore.

The pub’s grand old facade is an elite backdrop. Take your pick from benches, parklets and little tables. Having a drink on this street beats a beer garden any time.

Ormeggio At The Spit, Mosman

This breezy Italian diner on the water is about as close as you can get to a Mediterranean holiday in Sydney. You’re docked among the yachts, looking out onto the water and sipping a spritz on the terrace bar – there are few places better for catching a sunset in this part of the world.

Cracking into the property market at one of the surrounding marina houses (with a private jetty) feels unlikely, but it’s fun to pretend with a spritz or two during a long afternoon here. Sit back, sip away and watch the boats float by.

The Hot List is proudly sponsored by Square.