Best restaurant patios in NC? OpenTable ranks these 3 among the nation’s favorites
Customers love dining al fresco at three North Carolina restaurants — helping them earn wide recognition.
These dining spots made it onto a list of the nation’s most popular places to enjoy a meal outside, according to the restaurant reservation website OpenTable. The three North Carolina favorites were:
- Green Valley Grill in Greensboro
- Print Works Bistro in Greensboro
- The Oyster Rock Waterfront Seafood in Calabash
It turns out, none of the restaurants are strangers to receiving accolades. All three ranked among the best outdoor dining destinations on a similar list that OpenTable shared in 2022, and the Greensboro restaurants also have been named top date-night spots, McClatchy News reported.
This time around, OpenTable gathered more than 13 million reviews in the year leading up to May. While looking at comments from “verified” users, it studied U.S. restaurants with a “minimum ‘overall’ score and number of qualifying reviews,” according to a report published Wednesday, June 28.
“The overall score is made up of unique data points, such as overall diner rating, user klout, total number of reviews, and regional overall rating,” the website wrote. “Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews, for which ‘outdoor dining’ was selected as a special feature.”
What makes the restaurant patios special?
Among the North Carolina restaurants landing in the top 100 were Green Valley Grill and Print Works Bistro, less than a mile from each other in Greensboro. The eateries — which are operated by the same restaurant group — received online praise for their customer service and the ambiance on their patios.
Green Valley Grill focuses on “Old World European and Mediterranean flavors,” and several OpenTable users said its patio was an ideal setting for enjoying brunch and lunch favorites. But those who want to indulge soon may have to wait, as the restaurant on its website said it will be closed dinnertime July 2 and reopen at lunchtime July 7.
Meanwhile at the French-inspired restaurant Print Works Bistro, some reviewers have flocked to OpenTable to say they couldn’t get enough of the dishes served outdoors.
Also ranking among the nation’s best places for eating outside was The Oyster Rock Waterfront Seafood. The restaurant, about 50 miles southwest of Wilmington, overlooks the Calabash River.
On OpenTable, some customers said they were big fans of The Oyster Rock’s fresh seafood, including oysters, of course. Many also raved about the restaurant’s waterfront views, helping it earn nearly five out of five stars.
Despite the recent honor, the top-ranking places to dine al fresco missed out on another similar list. Instead, the Antidote at Chemist Spirits in Asheville was named the No. 1 rooftop bar in the state, McClatchy News reported in June.
In the more recent rankings, OpenTable didn’t list the winning restaurants in ranking order but instead organized them alphabetically. The state boasting the most top places to eat outside was California, which had 31 in total.
“With many restaurants elevating outdoor dining spaces for summer and beyond, this list represents dining destinations with incredible outdoor — and culinary — offerings,” Susan Lee, chief growth officer for OpenTable, said in a news release, adding that outdoor dining was up 19% year-over-year for the first half of June.
This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Best restaurant patios in NC? OpenTable ranks these 3 among the nation’s favorites."
