Fall and Winter Outdoor Dining Options on the North Shore

Extend your family’s outdoor dining season with cozy heaters, tents and even igloos. You can savor a patio lunch by day or trot out your ski fashions and sledding outfit to dine al fresco at locations both casual and fine. Don’t forget curbside carry-out and delivery between in-person visits.

For more terrific tastes to take-away or eat out, explore Chicago’s North Shore Food + Drink listings.

EJ's Place, Skokie

Winner of the North Shore Choice awards for Best Outdoor Dining in 2020, Fred’s Garage (574 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka) sports open-air dining of their “elevated classics” on a large, inviting patio partially enclosed with windows for air flow and heaters for warmth. With plentiful and some portable heaters, Grill House (3061 Dundee Rd., Northbrook) brings homemade grilled foods and salad options out to their extended patio. Stop by Pinstripes (1150 Willow Rd., Northbrook) to sit on their spacious outdoor heated patio, enjoy some delicous wood fired pizza, we suggest the Prosciutto Fig, tasty warming pastas, like the Housemade Ricotta Gnocchi, and, for dessert, indulge in the Warm Brownie and Gelato. 

Fred's Garage, Winnetka

HEATED PATIO DINING

The Autumn Menu at the new "Le Patio Aboyer“ (64 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka) beckons with fresh French-American fare that tastes délicieux in the open air. Fresh classics and new menu items enjoy a seat under the warmth of heat lamps at Louie’s Boston Fish Market (412 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling) where they serve the freshest of fish dishes even out-of-doors. Five & Dime (1026 Davis St., Evanston) is keeping their roof deck perched atop Downtown Evanston open. Order food and drinks for carryout from their website and take upstairs to enjoy outside.

Five & Dime, Evanston

TASTES BETTER IN A TENT

The North Shore's premiere supper club EJ’s Place (10027 Skokie Blvd., Skokie) has created a spacious, elegantly-tented outdoor dining area with rotating specials to tempt your family. The Happ Inn (305 Happ Rd., Northfield) winterized their tent to provide a consistent, comfortable temperature, plus patio heaters along the perimeter for additional heat on cooler nights. With added heaters and sides to the tent to keep it warmer while fresh air circulates, brewpub Peckish Pig (623 Howard St., Evanston) has conjured up hot drink specials and a hearty new winter menu to keep you toasty on the patio.

Peckish Pig, Evanston

THE IGLOO AND GREENHOUSE DINING EXPERIENCE

The Glen Club (2901 W. Lake Ave., Glenview) Winter Wonderland Igloo Dining boasts both a fine dining or lounge area experience. In the lounge experience, you and yours can luxuriate across a sofa, club chairs, and ottomans while you enjoy Chocolate Fondue, S’mores Kit, Spiked Hot Beverages, shared plates, and entrées. Bundle up for a burger and beers in layers of snowsuits or football-watching gear in the toasty geodesic domes at Hackney’s on Harms (1241 Harms Rd., Glenview). Reserve a cozy private greenhouse for up to six people at 501 Local (501 Chestnut St., Winnetka) and indulge in delcious items from the menu like the cauliflower bisque, roasted spaghetti squash pasta and the creme caramel while keeping the chill away. Enjoy the sunshine (during lunch) and stay cozy and warm while dining in one of the twelve greenhouses at Guildhall (694 Vernon Ave., Glencoe) this winter. Partake in hearty comforting dishes like the Butternut Squash Arancini, Funghi e Spinaci Neopolitan style pizza and the Guildhall Burger. 

501 Local, Winnetka