Even before the pandemic, Bellinghamsters have been big on dining outdoors. Most breweries had beer gardens already, though due to COVID-19 restrictions, most restaurants added street dining — giving more options to customers with dogs or a need for fresh air.
Despite this variety, certain places in Whatcom County stand out for their outdoor experience. Now that warm weather is coming back to visit, it’s worth seeking them out for sunny afternoons and mellow evenings.
Bellingham breweries
My personal favorite outdoor brewery space is Stones Throw Brewery in Fairhaven, with its huge variety of seating options, from the covered benches and firepit in front to the little hidden patios in back, or the various levels of decks upstairs. Food trucks are available for sustenance, or you can walk a block over to Skylark’s Hidden Cafe, which has a surprisingly large backyard with tents set up for summer evenings.
Of all the breweries in Bellingham, Boundary Bay Brewery was the very first. Nearly 30 years later, it remains a destination for its big beer garden, live music and good food. Just around the corner, Gruff Brewing Co. has one of the best casual patios in town, perched on the hillside with excellent sunset views. Ample seating and fire pits make this a perfect place to hang out with friends (and dogs), and they recently added a menu of Japanese-style snacks and sandwiches.
In Old Town, Structures Brewing has greatly expanded its outdoor seating. You can get a really good (and shockingly cheap) hamburger, plus addictive house-made potato chips. And up on State Street, Schweinhaus Biergarten has created what feels like a small town, serving enormous pretzels and sausages plus beer by the liter and enough televisions to make it feel like a huge, all-outdoor sports bar.
Bellingham restaurants
Perhaps the best restaurant outdoor space in town can be found at Bellingham Cider Company. Their enormous deck overlooks Maritime Heritage Park and out to the bay, a perfect place for an afternoon cocktail or cider slushie, or having dinner as the sun sets behind the islands.
Rock & Rye Oyster House has a much smaller but very comfortable deck where you can enjoy their excellent seafood and cocktails, and Bar Cicotti takes advantage of its location in the Lightcatcher Museum with tables in the shady courtyard as well as sidewalk tables out front.
Up in Sunnyland, Homeschool BBQ has a beautiful garden, currently framed by a huge wisteria vine. It’s a wonderful spot for gorging on a pulled pork biscuit or their gigantic Cubano sandwich.
The Portal Container Village, which sprung up at the waterfront amid the remnants of the Georgia Pacific paper mill, has turned into a popular outdoor hangout. Anchored by Kulshan Trackside’s huge beer garden, the village now includes The Selkie Scoop ice cream, Bin 13 Wine Bar, a plethora of food trucks and the Rain or Shine Riviera Club, the latter of which is operated by the same folks as the Filling Station and serves “hot food and cold drinks.” The container village is a perfect spot for bringing kids, dogs or a big group of friends to spend the day indulging in tacos and beer or drinking wine spritzers in the sun.
If water views are what you’re after, you might head over to Keenan’s at the Pier, which has excellent food and views of Taylor Dock and the boardwalk to Boulevard Park (but be prepared for a ruckus if the train goes by directly below you). Up at Squalicum Harbor, the Lighthouse Grill has a comfortable patio protected from the wind by glass panels. Other nearby options include Anthony’s at Squalicum Harbor, the slightly more casual Anthony’s Hearthfire Grill, The Loft Restaurant, Italian food at Lombardi’s and massive fish and chips at Nicki’s Bella Marina.
Around Whatcom County
Outside of Bellingham, outdoor dining options abound. The Bistro at Shuksan and Great Blue Heron Grill at Semiahmoo each offer fine dining in a golf course setting. The Bistro, which is known for its Southern-style cuisine, has a newly rebuilt deck with a view out towards Mount Baker and live jazz on Fridays. In Lynden, Rustlers’ Front Street Grill has also just completed a fancy new heated patio that looks very comfy.
In downtown Blaine, Drayton Harbor Oyster Company is a comfortably rustic space with a huge patio overlooking the bay and marina, partially covered with a heated tent for cooler days. In addition to fresh raw oysters, you can get grilled oysters with a half dozen different sauces, as well as shrimp tacos and super crispy sweet potato waffle fries.
Not far away at the marina, the Alaska Wild Fish & Chip Co. food truck has a large seating area set up in a parking lot plus a roped-off beer garden. Their fish and chips are universally admired and their clam chowder is extremely good. It’s not a place to linger on a wet or blustery day, but in fine weather, it’s a great view. In addition, The Vault Wine Bar (whose food I hugely admire) has a great deck, sometimes with live music in the summer.
Another nearby destination is the Semiahmoo Resort, perched on the end of a spit facing White Rock. Packers Kitchen + Bar, the resort restaurant, has huge windows facing the water, with a deck and patio just steps from the beach that would be a delightful spot to while away an afternoon over drinks and crab cakes. They also have a surprisingly great selection of non-alcoholic beers and cocktails if you’re worried about the long drive home.
Just a bit south along Birch Bay, you can enjoy water views at CJ’s Beach House, The Beach at Birch Bay (tagline: “world’s only five-star dive bar”) and Beach Cat Brewing, all next door to each other right on the bay. Any of these would be an ideal spot to settle in and watch the sunset over the water — the perfect way to end a day.
Jessamyn Tuttle is a freelance writer and photographer based in the Skagit Valley.
