12 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 Lock 3 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, Lock 4, Cascade Plaza, the Akron Civic Theatre, Akron Soul Train, and the 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.

The Circle of 5ths is a craft cocktail bar that sits above BLU Jazz+. In addition to their gorgeous and one-of-a-kind cocktails, they have a curated selection of handhelds, and you can’t go wrong with any of them. This summer, dine on their fenced-in front patio that sits adjacent to Maiden Lane, where there's always something cool and fun going on.

To dine on Luciano's 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, Luciano'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.

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 or a sloppy-in-the-best-way-possible handheld from the Circle of Fifths, 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.

Evelyn's interior is delightful enough with their teal walls and lush collection of indoor plants. And though they don't technically have their own patio, their location inside Lock 3 puts them right beside the Swensons Game Patio, which is a lovely place to enjoy your Vietnamese coffee, smoothie, cookie, or bánh mì. The patio is surrounded by gardens and offers stunning views of the skyline and Akron's central park. After you finish your drink or meal, you can even take a stroll around the perimeter of the park, a perfect .25-mile loop.

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.

Who doesn't love those classic subs, crispy chips, cookies, brownies, and more? At downtown Akron's Jimmy Johns location, the restaurant has a fenced-in sidewalk patio where you can sit down and enjoy your quick, tasty lunch. 

Akronym's patio is tucked into the slope of E. Market St. where it runs into High. It's a bustling corner of downtown, which makes it a great place to enjoy the excitement and activity that come with having a good meal and a good brew in the center of the city. It's in close proximity to the Akron Art Museum, Summit Artspace, the Nightlight, Musica, BLU Jazz+, and other arts venues in the area, so consider dining there the next time you're planning to see a concert, movie, or art exhibition.

Embrace the magic and mystery of Bar Phoenix, located directly across the street from Lock 3, with a signature cocktail, ignition flatbread, fire handheld, or fire rice plate on their sidewalk patio—a patio that continues seamlessly into the restaurant thanks to a garage-style window at the front. Whether you're there on an evening when they're hosting a jazz performer or karaoke night, or there's a concert on at Lock 3, you're sure to feel the heat in the best way possible.