Patio Hunters

The far-west anchor: a large patio at one of Canada's oldest independents (founded 1987), with the in-house Wavy Wall Craft Kitchen turning out a rotating themed menu beside it. Start here early afternoon, when the patio opens spring through fall, before you point east.

The patio is the whole point: a large covered beer garden with a retractable roof and heaters, built German-beer-garden style and winterized for year-round use. Sun's out, roof's open. Good for groups on a clear day; they keep it covered if a cloud rolls in.

The white-picket-fence patio sits right at the Ossington door, and a Jelly King on it is more or less Toronto's official drink of July. Small and very popular, so land here mid-afternoon before the after-work crowd claims every seat.

A hidden backyard beer garden tucked behind the King West storefront in the Entertainment District, with two bars and 300+ capacity. This is your group stop, and it doubles as a pre-theatre spot if you're catching something at Roy Thomson Hall or the Royal Alex.

The Biergarten sits on cobblestone between two vintage locomotives in the 1929 John Street Roundhouse, with the CN Tower right overhead. One beer, done well, and the most photogenic patio on the route. Time it for golden hour when the sun lights up the tower.

A roughly 100-seat rooftop hidden behind a dense line of trees, like drinking inside a tree canopy above a 1917 mansion. About 16 rotating taps brewed in plain sight and a NY-style pizza kitchen below. The rooftop runs Fri-Sun in season, so head up top for the early-evening light as the route turns toward Leslieville.

The eastern terminus and a genuine Beaches local, with a dog-friendly Queen East patio and beers themed for beaches around the world. Bring the group and the dog, order the lager, and let this be where the day winds down near the boardwalk.