Why outdoor restaurants in Los Angeles are so hard to find

“Seating themselves on the green sward, they eat while the corks fly and there is talk, laughter and merriment, and perfect freedom, for the universe is their drawing room and the sun their lamp. Besides, they have appetite, nature’s special gift, which lends to such a meal a vivacity unknown indoors, however beautiful the surroundings ...

— From The Physiology of Taste of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

By Merrill Shindler

Restaurant Critic

Well, you know how it is. We’ve got precious little green sward left in Southe Califoia these days, most of it having been paved over into shopping centers and parking lots.

What we have instead when it comes to outdoor dining is our old friend Al Fresco, a heck of a nice guy, who keeps popping up here, there and everywhere.

Which is a good thing, for incredible as it may seem, suy Southe Califoia has by tradition been a fairly rotten place when it comes to the simple pleasures of outdoor dining.

In Rome, they spend their days sitting at cafes in the piazzas drinking Campari and soda, and their evenings chewing spaghetti in restaurants where tables sprawl all over the sidewalk and into the street as well.

In Paris, they sip espresso and nibble on croissants while the sun is up, then tu to anisette and absinthe when the moon is in the sky.

Even in New York, where you can get mugged while eating a crepe, fans of outdoor dining risk getting their food sooty at cafes all over the Upper East Side, the Village and SoHo.

But here in Los Angeles and environs, where the weather is so relentlessly and tediously conducive to outdoor eating, the tradition of al fresco dining is best honored in the breach.

For the longest time, it’s been restricted to small patios, that are a little like having a sunroof instead of a convertible top; the sky is still over your head, but it just ain’t the same thing.

But in recent times, there’s been a madcap local effort to actually create a world of outdoor dining malls and plazas, where we can actually play at living in a real city. It’s kind of fun, like playing grownup by putting on your parent’s clothing.

The concept of al fresco dining has come to Southe Califoia with a vengeance, making up in a recent times for the many years that locals had to content themselves with watching the world through thick panes of glass.

Thus, there’s great outdoor dining to be found in the San Feando Valley, at the newly opened Westfield Village at Topanga, where nearly all the restaurants offer an outdoor option where you can sit on the mall, watching the shoppers stagger from shop to shop.

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In the South Bay, there’s great outdoor dining to be had at The Pointe in El Segundo, and along Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach.

Old Pasadena has long been a hotbed of outdoor dining options — and on a warm San Gabriel Valley night, there’s nothing better than watching as the style-obsessed strut their stuff.

And head for 2nd Street in Belmont Shore in Long Beach, where the shouts of sports fans reverberate from one outdoor bar after another. We’ve discovered the Great Outdoors. At last!

Indeed, it can be said that in the Summer of 2016, after many years of drought and sundry dire waings of impending doom, we’ve desired — as a region — that it’s time to take back the streets.

Sidewalk dining has become one of the dominant motifs of the culinary life of Southe Califoia.

Can boulevardiers dressed in off-white suits, with spats, spectator shoes, a pince nez and a silver topped walking stick strolling our streets be far behind?

Until that day, I do have some favorite outdoor spots, where the experience of dining with Al Fresco is a pleasure, and even an honor. And where, in this particular selection, the experience varies wildly from green sward to green sward.

San Feando Valley

Come the summer months, they open the outdoor patio at the fabulously rustic, Ralph Lauren-esque Saddle Peak Lodge (419 Cold Canyon Rd., Calabasas, 818-222-3888, www.saddlepeaklodge.com), which during the day (Sunday brunch is a special treat) offers a breath-taking view of the coastal range, and a sense that you tued off Las Virgenes Road and wound up somewhere in Colorado in the Rockies.

If you’re of the athletic persuasion, combine brunch with a hike through nearby Malibu Creek State Park, out to where MASH used to be filmed. (The hills above were used as a stand-in for Korea — you’ll remember the helicopters floating through them.)

Come the evening, there are heaters and strikingly few bugs — bugs don’t dare show up someplace as stylish as this.

But do note that the outdoor terrace is very popular for weddings. Call first if your heart was set on dining among the trees. Breaking into a medley of John Denver hits is hard to avoid.

San Gabriel Valley

After a quarter of a century, Mi Piace (25 E. Colorado Blvd., Old Pasadena, 818-795-3131, www.mipiace.com) remains an Old Pasadena phenomenon — the busiest restaurant on a street of many busy restaurants, where those lucky enough to score an outside table can watch others get a table inside or wait, Pinot Grigio in hand, for one of the most reasonably priced, generously served Italian meals in town.

Mi Piace is an eatery with one foot firmly planted in the present, and the other just as firmly ensconced in the past.

What’s in the present is the look of the place — comfortably high-tech, with massive mirrors hanging from the back walls, and an open kitchen — the look is as mode as can be.

The food, on the other hand, though not retro Italian, has roots stretching in that direction.

This is Italian comfort chow — mozzarella marinara, steamed broccoli and green beans in a lemon and garlic sauce, calamari fritti, linguini with meat sauce, chicken cacciatore and eggplant parmigiana.

New York-style pizzas come topped with normal stuff like pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and anchovies. The pizza has a good crunchy crust, with a minimum of the dread pizza sog.

The calamari fritti passes the crunch test nicely. The meat sauce has enough meat and enough spice.

And they make terrific desserts. Desserts that have nothing to do with Italy at all. Big gooey American-style pastries. Enough with the tiramisu; bring on the cheesecake. (Though the breads, from the Pasadena Baking Company, are deeply European, among the very best in town.)

Long Beach

You don’t so much sit on the water when you’re at Fuego at Hotel Maya (700 Queensway Dr., Long Beach, 562-481-3910, www.hotelmayalongbeach.com/fuego.com), as almost sit in it. If you’re out on the grand patio, you’re surrounded by water left, right and center.

The coastline of the Harbor stretches before you, with the towers of the Queen Mary off to the right. It’s like you’re in the harbor — without getting wet; if the wind is blowing, you can feel the spray.

Drinks and dier at this upscale hotel Mexican restaurant is like taking a trip to Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlán, without having to go through customs.

The experience is aquatic. And, if you drink more than a few of the signature margaritas, very well lubricated.

Getting there is both easy —and a bit confusing. You follow the signs to the Queen Mary. But also, not to the Queen Mary. You’ve got to look for Queensway Drive, which snakes around in a circle, heading back into Long Beach proper.

If you see The Reef — the fabled buffet brunch restaurant on the water — you’re just down the road. This is a breakfast, lunch and dier restaurant; it’s in a hotel after all.

But though you’re on the water for all the meals, it’s at dier time that you can settle in on the patio to watch the sun set over the harbor.

Come for the view, stay for a cocktail, stick around for dier, catch the game if one is on the big screens. And check out the crowd, which is having a fine time, with random bits of canoodling at the bar. Especially after a few drinks. This is one restaurant where the suggestion, “Get a room!” would be easy to do.

South Bay

Beer is what Rock & Brews (143 Main St., El Segundo, 310-615-9890, www.rockandbrews.com) is all about. Or at least, it’s what the bending-an-elbow, should-we-order-a-glass-or-a-pitcher part of the place is all about.

There are several dozen beers on the brew list, though not all of them are always available. To find out which of them are being poured, you have to study the lists behind the bar — where you’ll find enough been to keep just about anyone well hydrated.

Rock is the other thing Rock & Brews is all about. And I guess the ampersand represents the food; there’s a fine menu of good dishes that go exceedingly well with beer, and are just right for the crowds that show up at this El Segundo institution, and occupy the long communal tables.

This is the sort of place you want to go to with everyone you know, so you can order your suds by the pitcher, and your pizzas family-style. And you can do that while listening to one of the best restaurant soundtracks in the world.

I was watching a basketball game on one of the TVs at the bar, drinking a Czechvar, eating a pizza — and on came Bob Dylan singing “Maggie’s Farm.” Followed by Tom Petty and “Free Fallin’.”

Truly, I was in Baby Boomer Heaven. And as a heavenly treat, Rock & Brews is largely an outdoor place.

It sits in the space that, for a dog’s age was home to Viie’s Pizza — a fine old red sauce joint that hardly used its spacious outdoor patio at all.

At Rock & Brews, the dynamic has flipped. The indoor dining room isn’t used nearly as much as the outdoor beer garden.

In fact, on a recent fine evening, the indoor area was empty, while the outdoor area was, if not SRO, definitely pretty close to it. It’s got areas that are kid friendly, and areas that are dog friendly. And parking is relatively easy. This is Al Fresco at his finest.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Send him email at [email protected].