Last call for nominations for Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining

It’s last call for nominations for our search for Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining spots.

So far, our readers have nominated close to 100 Michigan restaurants that have some form of outdoor dining set up. We’ve learned about some awesome spots, from cozy yurts, to duck blinds along a river. We’ve heard about places that let you bring your own setup and enjoy their parking lot, and places that have erected open sided tents and decorated them into beautiful winter wonderlands.

The hard work and creativity that our Michigan restaurants have put into their outdoor dining options is downright amazing. Although indoor dining is scheduled to reopen in a reduced capacity on February 1, we hope that these outdoor dining options continue. They’ve proven to be a fun way to embrace our Michigan winter, in addition to being a life line for many of our restaurants.

We want to know where you’ve found excellent outdoor dining around Michigan, and will continue to take your nominations until midnight tonight.

To send us your nominations, please email the Michigan’s Best team of John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman directly. Let us know the name of the restaurant or bar, what city it’s located in, and what makes their outdoor dining set up fantastic. We’d also love to hear about your favorite things to eat and drink al fresco at your favorite spot. Please put “Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining is at…” in the subject line of your email. You can find us at:

[email protected]

We’ll be accepting nominations through the rest of the day today, Sunday Jan. 24 until midnight tonight. Our voting polls, which will be arranged by region, will go up on Tuesday morning, January 26. You’ll then be able to vote until 3pm on Friday January 29. You can vote in multiple regional polls. In fact, if you wish, you can vote in all of them.

After the polls close, we’ll be sharing all of the poll winners with you from across the state. We’ll also be heading out separately to visit a few of the nominees first-hand, in a safe and socially-distanced manner, and will be reporting back on all that we find. We can’t wait to see the innovative and interesting outdoor set-ups around Michigan.

The search for Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining is sponsored in part by Warm Fitness.