The Top Ten Outdoor Patios

​The Italian term al fresco — meaning “in the open air,” to refer to a mode of dining — dates back to at least the 16th-century, although the term is firmly rooted in ancient Latin al (to or in) and fresco (fresh). The concept of dining outdoors — particularly in an urban setting — is sometimes more romantic than the reality.

Even a beautiful outdoor dining space, like Lidia’s Kansas City — pictured above — can seem a little less charming on fiercely hot summer evenings. Other urban patios might also feature the less-than-alluring possibility of mosquitoes, car fumes, the pungent aroma of cigar smoke (particularly now that non-smoking policies have driven the tobacco-loving crowd outdoors) and maybe a few raindrops.

But to dine al fresco suggests something sophisticated and European — even in Kansas City. The reference book Italian American Heritage: A Companion to Literature and the Arts offers this: “Conflating the idea that Italian cuisine is admirably suited to be eaten in the open air and the image of the Mediterranean climate, al fresco has become a signifier of the pleasurable way in which Italian life is conducted.”

Here are Fat City’s top ten outdoor dining spaces, chosen by Charles Ferruzza and Jonathan Bender:

​10) The balcony at Figlio, on the Country Club Plaza (209 W. 46th Terrace, pictured right) has a romantic view of the famous J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain in Mill Creek Park. The view is certainly more dramatic than the Italian fare served at Figlio’s, but the combination of hot breadsticks, cold wine and a sweet little balcony that evokes the most famous scene in Romeo and Juliet all adds up to a potentially seductive evening.