With summer weather in full swing and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis limiting indoor dining, you’ll be glad to know there are plenty of establishments in New Haven offering outdoor seating for safe and socially distanced meals on the town. With a luxurious guest room or suite at The Blake, you’ll be spoiled for choices in that department—indeed, you don’t even have to leave our boutique hotel for some al fresco awesomeness!
Here are just a few New Haven restaurants currently offering outdoor seating—and reliably great cuisine!
The High George Rooftop Bar at The Blake Hotel
Steps from your Blake room or suite, savoring a fine cityscape view and gardened surrounds, you’ve got award winning fare and libations to tuck into at our very own High George Rooftop Bar. Breakfast here might take the form of lemon ricotta pancakes, smoked salmon toast, or a refreshing parfait. For dinner, you can settle in via P.E.I. Mussels, charred broccoli, bass crudo, duck wings, or other appetizers, then move on to hanger steak, shrimp scampi, roast salmon, Gemelli Giardiniera, or perhaps our Crispy Half Chicken. Whether starting or ending your New Haven staycation, come experience Connecticut Magazine’s best rooftop 2020.
Rawa Mediterranean Fusion (838 Whalley Ave)
Rawa presents a rich menu inspired by the flavors and techniques of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cookery. You could restrict yourself to the fresh-baked pita bread and any number of outrageously good dips for it—hummus, baba ghanouj, muhammara, and numerous others—and leave happy, but then you’d miss out on other highlights: falafel, kebabs, biryani, zesty salads, and more. Kick back outside and dig in!
Temple Bar & Grill (152 Temple St.)
The Temple Plaza patio at Temple Bar & Grill is another winning place to find yourself for a homerun New Haven feed. There’s a crowd-pleasing menu on offer here, with a variety of sandwiches, wraps, and soups served, plus some hard-to-resist appetizers: Tuna Carpaccio, Steamed Mussels and Clams, the Buffalo Chicken Spring Roll, and the Temple Grill Giant Pretzel among them. Along with lunch and dinner, the Temple Bar & Grill whips up a mean Sunday brunch.
Zeneli Pizzeria & Cucina Napoletana (138 Wooster St.)
New Haven is, of course, world-famous for its homegrown style of pizza, which is absolutely mandatory to sample. But that local brand of pizza—thoroughly delectable as it is—isn’t the only kind you can enjoy in the city, as Zeneli Pizzeria & Cucina Napoletana demonstrates. The authentic Neapolitan pizza fired up here definitely holds its own, offering some nice diversity for pizza connoisseurs and paying homage to venerable Italian culinary tradition in the process. The pizzeria/trattoria has set up special outdoor seating for the perfect place to enjoy its pies (and antipasto and pasta).
Soul de Cuba (238 Crown St.)
Delish Afro-Cuban cuisine is yours to enjoy in the fresh air at Soul de Cuba, which opened back in 2004. The trick is balancing your appetite: definitely scrupulously investigate the starters—empanadas, tostones, Platano Maduro, Crispy Pork Belly, and more—but make sure you’ve still got room for a Cubano sandwich or one of the chicken/beef/pork/seafood/vegetarian entrees.
Come join us up on the Blake rooftop this summer!