Best Patios in Toronto: Heated and Year-Round Winter Picks

The best patio in Toronto on a January night has a roof, a heater and a reason to stay.

The City encourages people to explore CaféTO patios from May through October. A handful of places did not get that memo. This is our Patio Report for the cold months: five patios that describe themselves, in their own words or in Toronto Life’s, as heated, covered or all-season, and that we could confirm are taking guests this season. It is not a ranking, and every pick is a place to warm up, not a place to prove anything to the weather.

For a wider winter night out, see our guide to cozy bars in Toronto in winter, and for the full restaurant picture start with the best restaurants in Toronto.

Which Yorkville patios stay warm in winter?

Two Yorkville favourites are our first stops, and both keep outdoor seating going through the cold months.

1

Hemingway's Restaurant and Bar

YorkvilleOfficial site Share

Hemingway’s private-events page describes its rooftop patio as available year round, with fans and retractable garage doors for summer and heaters for winter. The home page calls it a famous rooftop patio. The events page lists live music and trivia nights, and the venue has promoted rugby viewing on what it calls its Rugby Rooftop Patio. It is our pick for a casual night with a crowd.

2

Bar Reyna

YorkvilleOfficial site Share

Bar Reyna says its Secret Garden is winterised and open all year round. The restaurant describes itself as sitting behind the doors of a two-storey Victorian on Cumberland Street. The Moroccan Den upstairs is the other room to know. It suits a long cocktail evening with a few friends. For more of the neighbourhood, see our Yorkville guide.

Where else can you warm up outdoors?

A brewery, a rooftop and a covered lounge.

3

Bandit Brewery

RoncesvallesOfficial site Share

Bandit’s own FAQ says its patio roof retracts at the click of a button, so it can cover you from the elements or open fully. It adds that the patio has a heated floor that is kept toasty during the colder months. The brewery says the patio is open year round and winterized from November to April. The brewery describes itself as a small micro-brewery in the heart of Roncesvalles. Its FAQ calls the place kid friendly. A Loop favourite for beer lovers in January.

4

Sky Yard at The Drake Hotel

West Queen WestOfficial site Share

The Drake Hotel calls Sky Yard a desert-inspired, all-season rooftop patio in West Queen West. The hotel’s patios page adds that Sky Yard has fully winterized spaces for cozy cold-weather drinks. The Drake describes a charcoal grill, tequila and rum cocktails, DJ sunset sets and skyline views. Go for the skyline and stay for the warmth.

5

LuNa by DaNico

Official site Share

Toronto Life reported on June 22, 2026 that LuNa by DaNico is a new 30-seat, all-season patio next to DaNico, which it describes as an Italian restaurant across from Sneaky Dee’s. OpenTable lists a Luna Patio seating option described as a fully covered patio. Toronto Life says the space mirrors DaNico’s sophistication but feels lighter and more casual. Check the restaurant’s booking page for what is available.

How did we choose these five?

We wanted places we could stand behind in the middle of winter. Each one has a live booking page or a dated seasonal item on the venue’s own channels, plus a mention from an independent outlet, Destination Toronto or Toronto Life. Each patio is also described, by the venue itself or by Toronto Life, as heated, covered or all-season. If a place could not meet all three tests, we left it out and will happily revisit it when the evidence arrives. Seating changes with the weather, so check each venue’s site before you head out, especially on frosty nights.

What happens to CaféTO patios when the season ends?

CaféTO curb lane cafés are temporary outdoor dining space on the street, directly adjacent to the curb. For 2026 the City scheduled their removal between October 1 and October 15. Temporary platforms had to be installed by June 1 for the duration of the café season. Sidewalk cafés, which the City says were formerly known as boulevard cafés, are outdoor eating areas on sidewalks where a licensed eating or drinking establishment serves food or drinks to the public. Patios on private property fall under the City’s zoning by-laws, and for a patio above the first storey, such as a rooftop, the City’s guidance raises the required distance from residential properties to 40 metres.

How do you plan for patio season in spring?

Start with CaféTO, the City’s outdoor dining program, which launched in 2020 as a rapid pandemic response and is now a permanent annual program covering curb lanes, sidewalks and private patios. In 2025 it supported about 1,500 outdoor dining spaces, including 579 sidewalk cafés, many of which can remain in place year-round. The City’s CaféTO page says a sidewalk café permit lets a restaurant serve food and drinks on the sidewalk year round.

For spring, look at the calendar the City set for 2026. It opened curb lane applications on January 7 and took them until February 11. It aimed to have most curb lane cafés ready for the Victoria Day long weekend. Check the City’s CaféTO page for the next dates; it also links a map of curb lane cafés, sidewalk cafés and private patios.

That gives you a simple plan. Use the five patios above to get through the cold weeks, then switch to the map once May gets close. If beer is your thing, our craft breweries guide has more places to settle in.

Send this to the friend who refuses to admit patio season ever ends.