Nashville is short on waterfront dining options, so the Blue Moon Waterfront Grille, overlooking the Rock Harbor Marina, is one of the few places to take in a serene view of the water with dinner. The satisfying menu — mahi sandwiches, seafood po’ boys, and rum-filled boat drinks — pairs perfectly with the scenery.

North Nashville’s Buchanan Arts District is home to Minerva Avenue, a cocktail and hookah lounge whose name calls back to founder Robert Higgins, Jr.’s childhood. The nostalgic spot highlights art, culture, movies, and music from the 1970s through the 21st century, and it has an outdoor oasis fit for groups small and large. Settle into an outdoor cabana with innovative options like the Brown Sugar cocktail, a blend of vanilla Crown Royal and vanilla honey syrup with triple sec, a Coke float, and a brown sugar rim. You can also get the party going with bottle service.

A contender for Nashville’s best queso: San Antonio Taco Co.’s chili con queso, a delicacy that has drawn diners to this rickety 21st Avenue building since 1984. Affectionately known as Satco, the fast-casual Tex-Mex spot stands in the heart of the Vanderbilt University campus, with a large wooden patio serving as a popular meeting point for students, families, and groups of friends heading to a ball game or a night on the town. Grab a mix of tacos and a bucket of cold beer for the table.

While this is a Germantown hotspot for tacos and margaritas no matter the weather, Butchertown Hall’s pair of patios are the place to be on a nice day. Sip a margarita — traditional, flavored, or spicy — while snacking on some of the best queso in town, mixed with pico de gallo and chorizo. Happy hour runs Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m., then the string lights covering the patio enhance the ambience when the sun goes down.

This popular Germantown restaurant turns heads with its well-dressed spaces. Geist’s interior includes brick walls, soaring ceilings, plush leather banquets in blues and tans, and crystal chandeliers. Meanwhile, the charming all-weather patio, aka the Champagne Garden, features brick fencing, wrought iron, and a brick fireplace. You can order the full menu outside, including mains like barbecue monkfish and house-made cavatelli with duck ragu.

Assembly Food Hall, Broadway’s 100,000-square-foot dining destination, not only claims the largest rooftop in town but also features plenty of other open-air seating across several floors. The variety of stalls is staggering, including local highlights like Thai Esane, Istanbul Shawarma, Saffron Kitchen, and Prince’s Hot Chicken — creator of the iconic Nashville hot chicken. Grab trays from your favorites and a cocktail from any bar on-site, then head to a patio table to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the Broadway antics or a quieter angle above the rear courtyard.

It’s rare to find a street-level outdoor dining option in the heart of downtown Nashville, which is why the patio at the Southern Steak & Oyster stays packed on nice days. The restaurant’s menu melds traditional Southern dishes like fried chicken and steak and biscuits with coastal options like oysters and seafood gumbo. Add in cocktails, local brews, and wines and you can see why the Southern shines for boozy business meetings or pre-Broadway cocktails.

Rolling Mill Hill’s Pinewood Social is a one-stop shop for food and entertainment both indoors and out, complete with a six-lane bowling alley, bocce ball court, large backyard patio, enticing dishes like short rib mac and cheese, and even two dipping pools to cool you down during the hottest Tennessee days. If you can’t find a seat pool-side, the frozen cocktails and a scoop of Jeni’s ice cream should do the trick.

This buzzy East Nashville cafe serves smart plates like a koji-aged filet and crispy seared grouper with massaman curry and kokuho rice. The eclectic, colorful patio has plenty of seating and its own full bar for cocktails like the Chipilo Venetian mixing tequila and mezcal. Come for happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, only available out back.

If you didn’t know it was there, you might walk right by Rosemary and Beauty Queen, mistaking it for just another cute East Nashville house. This neighborhood cocktail bar’s expansive backyard patio is the perfect place to hang out on a warm summer day or night — until pretty late, actually. Snack on a charcuterie board, sweet whipped feta, or poached shrimp cocktail while toasting friends with a classic Old Fashioned or minty whiskey smash. You can also reserve private rooftop cabanas.

For a taste of the tropics in landlocked Tennessee, head to East Nashville’s Pearl Diver, where bright daiquiris and mojitos and fitting snacks like oysters and shrimp conjure distant shores. The tiki-inspired spot wouldn’t be complete without its colorful patio housing benches, tables, and cabanas that you can reserve.