The decorations at this Pasadena fave are charmingly mismatched, and the hectic brick patio, with tables seemingly set up according to the whim of that day's servers, extends the homegrown vibe. The specialty is Yucatan fare, and cochinita pibil (shredded pork marinated in achiote and baked in banana leaves) is a highlight. * Cochinita pibil, $10.

Sporting pastoral views, the Terrace offers the kind of alfresco experience usually reserved for European shipping magnates on holiday. Warm your heart by the lake bustling with swans, then sink your teeth into a scrumptious Stone Canyon ham and Gruyère sandwich. Make your reservation for early Sunday brunch, when the bougainvillea is still dewy. * Sunday brunch, $65 per person.

After perusing Culver City's gallery scene, continue your European daydream at Thierry Perez's country-style French-Italian venture. The salad with red endives, Parmesan and farmers market mushrooms and the cooling "sangria" (actually vodka with strawberries soaked in Grand Marnier and lime essence) are a fine excuse to nosh away an afternoon on the patio. * Mushroom salad, $11.

Nestled just off the hotel's lobby, it features a chic terrace with low-cut hedges and elegantly set tables shaded by umbrellas. The vibe is so low-key, it's easy to forget that the Sunset Strip madness is yards away. The chopped salad (pretty much a Cobb salad) will keep you coming back for more. Take note: reservations required. * Chopped salad, $16.

The Grill's Arts and Crafts-style dining room is populated with an eclectic Silver Lake crowd, one you'd never mistake for the Westside. It is also in possession of a lovely two-tiered patio, which makes for a nice place to relax at brunch or dinner.

Beside a trickling pebbled fountain and a pool ringed by posh cabanas, Westwood’s Backyard bar mixes a mean cocktail. Steph’s Berry Saintsation hits the not-too-sweet spot with St. Germain elderflower liqueur, vodka, strawberries, mint and a splash of soda. And yes, there's a delicious menu of food, too.

Twenty-one stories above the financial district, Elevate evokes '80s noir with bare, backlighted walls, razor-sharp right angles, low-slung white benches and a 3,000-square-foot patio. Sip a cold sake and take a spin around the wind-swept dance floor. Before you hit the bar, dine on sushi with a view on the deck of Elevate's sister restaurant, Takami.

The new cliff-top hangout in Laguna Beach is a study in the casual good life: intimate Mexican-tiled bar, fire pit, low glass walls and staggering views of the rugged coastline and vast expanse of the Pacific below. The food is simple American fare with a not-so-simple price tags.

Stretch out on a plush lounger beside the pool with its David Hockney paint job, gaze up at the slender palms and sip a perfect martini. It's got to be the classiest outdoor boite in town. Just above the pool, where you can eat simple dishes and snacks, Dakota Steakhouse has a glass-walled extension called the Bridge that lays claim to gorgeous poolside views and allows in the soft evevning breeze.

Skip the high-voltage scene inside and make your way through the terrace to the lovely low-key bar out back. Fire pits float above goldfish ponds, papyrus and horsetail sprout in pools along the walls and the wine list rocks. Pair hamachi with ponzu and cilantro with a glass of German Riesling or try the Kobe beef sliders with a Pernand-Vergelesses.

Hopeful young singles with seduction on their minds swarm a wraparound deck and its VIP booths, bobbing to thumping dance beats and sipping strong drinks with silly names. The menu includes sushi, seafood and steaks.

The double palms that are this restaurant’s namesake are perfect for propping up the expansive white tent that covers the patio at this New American restaurant. Billowing canvas shade-sails and the brassy rhythms of a New Orleans-style jazz band on Sunday make sipping a mango-tini or enjoying a decadent brunch the ne plus ultra of weekend fun.

Seeming to float above downtown like a Jetsons-age oasis, the Standard’s rooftop bar attracts everyone from buttoned-up office workers seeking happy hour drinks to the swanked-out, late-night crowd, whose appearance brings out the velvet ropes. The food is stripped down and simple and includes sliders, pita and hummus and salads.

The low-lighted, somewhat rustic house with its polished wood floors, helter-skelter table arrangements, pulsing wine bar and view of the kitchen, which is really just an L-shaped open space bordered by a counter, is calibrated to capture the feeling of dining at a friend's place. Better still, there is an intimate patio out front that is sure to be the hot spot to eat come summer.

Craft, Tom Colicchio's three-star Century City restaurant, recently transformed its lounge and bar into a spinoff restaurant called Craftbar, where nothing on the menu is over $10. To accomodate the new swell of customers the restaurant transformed its formal dining patio into a low-key dining lounge with ant's-eye views of the new Annenberg Space for Photography.

On a beautiful, sunny L.A. day, there is nothing quite as relaxing as a leisurely lunch at the Alcove, Los Feliz’s quaint and eminently trendy cafe. And you can't lose with the lovely patio.

A blossom-covered gate protects the patio, situated on a spacious corner lot, from the street beyond. The inventive home-style menu bears the charming influence of the American South. Busiest during weekday lunch and weekend brunch hours, Grub is a colorful, friendly reminder to keep our priorities straight: Fun, filling food and an interesting place to enjoy it are high on the list. --Marissa Tinloy, MMX

From within the Little Door, it’s not hard to pretend you’re in Europe. Each course tastefully blends fresh ingredients from local markets, the ambiance is warm and rustic, and the wine flows effortlessly. Whether by day or night, the patio and winter garden bustle with guests leisurely dining amid blossoming vines and picturesque mosaics. Though it’s cheaper than a trip to the Italian Riviera, when the bill comes, you just might feel as if you’ve paid a hefty sum in Euros. --Marissa Tinloy, MMX

At first glance Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market and Patio Cafe, with its kitschy sign featuring a lobster lounging beneath a beach umbrella, looks like just another beachside eatery. But if you make a quick turn off Pacific Coast Highway into its packed driveway you'll discover a local institution with high-quality grilled and fried seafood, including seared ahi tuna and succulent swordfish, at reasonable prices in a relaxed outdoor environment. There are ocean views galore from the tables, set on three patios that stagger up the hillside. On a recent Saturday afternoon Colleen Reilly is on the topmost patio, eating clam strips and reading "The Disorderly Knights" by Dorothy Dunnett. "I'm just driving up the coast," she says. "It was my birthday yesterday and I had to work, and now I just want to get some fresh air." Suddenly a man shouts, "Look, dolphins!" Customers turn to catch a glimpse of silvery-sleek dorsal fins playing peekaboo with the waves. The dolphin-spotter, Eric Dugdale, says he often stops by on his motorcycle, lured by the informality of the restaurant-by-the-sea.

Behind this cute cafe offering mouthwatering grilled sandwiches lies a not-so-secret garden that still feels secluded. Over gourmet-style cafe fare, relaxed Westside diners take it easy here, socializing, reading and working on their laptops, as if the place were their own backyard. The comfortable decor and assortment of fresh-baked treats and beverages make it easy to pass the afternoon. --Marissa Tinloy, MMX

Legendary cool hangout with an ocean view, cheap seafood and the sweet sound of Harleys roaring by. Outdoor seafood dining with an ocean view? Neptune's Net has that and more (specifically, beer). We're talking shrimp plates, fish and chips, oysters, clams, whatever. If it swims, they deep-fry it....

This beautiful and romantic Topanga Canyon restaurant promises to serve organic fruits and vegetables, free-range chicken, hormone-free meat and local wines. It's also got one of the lushest patios around.

Renowned for its hearty wild game dishes (New Zealand elk tenderloin, for example), this sophisticated hunting lodge-like restaurant sits proudly above the hills of Calabasas and Malibu, allowing for a divine drive to real mountain dining. Not so thrilled about an elk head staring you down while you enjoy your Whole Roasted Squab stuffed with sauerkraut, sweetbreads and foie gras? Ask to sit outside on the patio. Either way, don’t come straight from the beach – they are strict about their business casual dress code.

Chef Eric Greenspan’s polished California fare is on display at this modern bistro and from the looks of the people flocking to it, it’s hitting all the right notes. Greenspan, who worked in the kitchen at the original Patina, describes it as “fine dining for the everyday man." He has also just unvelied a newly redone patio so you can dine under the stars.

Tacos Delta doesn't look like much from the street, but it has a lovely tree-shaded patio out back with mismatched tablecloths and plastic seats. If you spent too much time carousing with Silver Lake rockers last night, the menudo here in the morning will help your head.

Millie's is a Silver Lake breakfast and brunch institution. It's located in an aged brick storefront with plenty of outdoor seating and a tiny indoor counter for couples or those dining solo. Band fliers make peering through the large front window nearly impossible and most of the scruffy-looking young rockers that lounge at the tables are seriously hung over.

Step into Madame Matisse and you're transported to those lovely Parisian or Roman neighborhood storefronts. Here, you can't go wrong with a beet, apple, Gorgonzola and candied-walnut salad or a perfectly cooked steak au poivre with a mean green peppercorn sauce. Eating outside is the obvious choice here.

What do ground beef-and-pickle tacos have in common with razor-thin young women in skinny jeans with nostril-length bangs? Both can be found in the penumbral glow of muted-red candlelight at Malo, Silver Lake's natty neighborhood taqueria. Take your dinner or your brunch on the bustling shaded patio out back.

If you’re looking for a bit of Paris in Los Feliz snag a rattan chair at one of Figaro's outdoor tables and you just might be transported.

Microscopic El Greco, next door to the Los Feliz 3 cinema and across the street from the over hyped Fred 62 (where the busboys' shirts say "Jesus is Our Dishwasher"), makes tasty chicken gyros, fresh Greek salads and garlic-Swiss cheese-mushroom burgers. Best of all: They deliver until midnight and have a cluster of tables outside with a great view of the lively street.

This trendy 24-hour diner specializes in overpriced eggs and self-consciously quirky diner fare that's generally average, but the obsessive unrequited love inspired by the place's too-cool-for-you attitude ensures that Fred's is always hopping. So are its outdoor tables.

At the newest Cobras & Matadors, a festive atmosphere, an affordable tapas menu and 50 wines by the glass entice a bohemian Eastside crowd. There are a limited number of streetside outdoor tables. Be sure to reserve them in advance, particularly during the summer. This place always seems to have a line.

Gut-busting Mexican fare with a psychedelic paint job. This Spring the beloved Silver Lake institution unvelied a brand new, beautifully landscaped patio.

See and be seen at the Ivy in Beverly Hills. (Actually, just see; unless you’re a star, it’s easy to blend into the background here and people-watch.) At least you'll feel comfortable on the adorable patio behind a white picket fence.

This boisterous beachside hang packs in crowds both day and night. The stunning ocean views from the patio are some of the best in the city.