Outdoor restaurant furniture

An outdoor table is judged at dusk, when the light drops and the party stays. The 298 pieces here include patio chairs, tables, bar stools, booths, umbrellas, partitions and heaters. Check the usage line first, then the material, then how an evening on your terrace will really run.

Start with the usage line

Patio use is listed on 261 of the 298 pieces, and 6 of those are for a covered patio only: a roof or an awning overhead, not an open terrace. Read that line on every listing. Wood frames and upholstered seats made for indoors fade, swell or rust in the open, and weather damage of that kind sits outside the warranty.

Rinsing, drainage and a cover are owed even to a true patio piece, along with a storage place when the season closes. Six months is the warranty period for patio chairs, tables and stools; the full terms are on the warranty page.

Frames, seats and tops

Metal frames number 63, aluminum 44, resin 37, aluminum with a bamboo look 16 and steel 13. Plastic teak seats number 33 and faux rattan seats 35, against 39 in resin and 43 in metal. Where a table top is listed, resin leads with 24, followed by aluminum with 18, synthetic teak with 15 and steel with 9.

The patio chairs page is the widest door into the range. Outdoor furniture sets bundle several pieces, so look at what is inside before you read the price.

Tolix-style seating accounts for 31 pieces. Stacking is listed on 99, arms on 44, and a swivel on one. Seat height lands at 18 inches on 21 pieces and at 17 1/2 inches on 6.

Tables, shade and warmth

Tops come square on 61 pieces, rectangular on 45 and round on 33. A patio table with an umbrella hole works only with a pole that fits the opening, so measure the hole and choose the stand together with the umbrella from the patio umbrellas page.

Partitions and heaters shape the space around the chairs. A terrace at dusk is a different room from the same terrace at noon: guests stay, the light goes, and the warmth decides where they sit.

Counting the terrace

Give each guest roughly 24 inches of rim, keep a service aisle near 36 inches, and find a covered place for everything before the weather turns. Prices start around $58.

Save each section of the terrace to a seating plan as its own block, so a clear-night layout and a rainy-day layout sit side by side.