What’s cooler than lounging on a breezy outdoor patio in Aspen? Lounging on a breezy rooftop patio with views for miles. These elevated outdoor dining experiences combine upscale food and drink with the most impressive vistas around.

The 1,908-square-foot wraparound terrace at Aspen Meadows’ West End Social offers southern and western views of all Aspen ski mountains, Red Mountain, and Red Butte, and it qualifies as the best place in Aspen to watch a summertime sunset with cocktail in hand. Lulled by the sound of the rushing Roaring Fork River below, visitors here on the roof above the Meadows Café (known for its grab-and-go picnic program) enjoy a bird’s-eye view of hiking trails and the kitchen’s culinary herb garden, where chefs cull basil, mint, and rosemary for creative summer fare incorporating produce from area farms. Firepit lounges and umbrella-shaded tables welcome imbibers to try new Aperol flights (choose a type of bubbly, served with a tray of fresh garnishes); hearty brunch and happy hour staples include the popular bison burger, plus roasted duck, housemade gnocchi, and new Wagyu dishes for dinner. 

Across town in the East End, catch morning rays on the east- and south-facing rooftop of The Gant while tucking into Origin by The Farmer and Chef’s seasonal American all-day brunch (sourdough buttermilk pancakes with housemade compote, Colorado Wagyu steak and eggs).

“We are on a mission to create a more sustainable food system, one plate at a time,” says Origin owner Tiffany Pineda, a former farmer at Carbondale’s Two Roots Farm (one of the restaurant’s 15-plus purveyor partners). “It’s valuable to have a connection to the people who grow your food and to support the local agriculture economy. Every dollar is a vote.”

Sprawling over 1,500 square feet with seating for 60 (receptions, 120), the rooftop’s June refresh welcomes a new living plant wall, umbrellas, flooring, and cushions; Jazz Aspen Snowmass students perform July 30 and August 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. 

The new Roof Terrace Bar at Mollie has plans as grand as its clear views of Aspen Mountain: Sunset Sounds concert series, movie nights, and speaker events. Lined with brick in the property’s signature Japanese-Scandinavian aesthetic and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Paepcke Park and Main Street, the small, low-lit lounge showcases a special menu of bar snacks and cocktails. In addition to eight bar seats, 10 two-top tables, and standing room for a dozen inside, new outdoor couch seating and railing tables encircle a spa pool.

“It’s a unique space, tied to the concept of a Japanese listening bar,” says Executive Chef Jordan Hayes, noting awesome acoustics. “Like an izakaya, where the room is very small, it’s all about the hi-fi system and curated vinyl records paired with thoughtful cocktails. The goal since we opened is to [be] ‘Aspen approachable.’”

Hence $5 nibbles—blue cheese popcorn, pickled quail eggs, crispy chickpeas—and $18– $20 highballs by bar manager Zac Snyder. (Try his “Aspen Tap,” a cheeky Woody Creek gin tribute to the most-uttered response by diners when servers ask for their water preference.) 

Just a 57-stair climb stands between visitors at the base of the Aspen Art Museum (AAM) and a straight-ahead rooftop sightline of Aspen Mountain. When architect Shigeru Ban unveiled his lattice-cube masterwork in August 2014, he famously quipped, “I made the entrance foyer on the rooftop. It is like the experience of skiing—you go up to the top of a mountain, enjoy the view, and then slide down.” (That year, Ban earned the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize for his sustainable, humanitarian work; AAM’s lattice cube, for one, is made of a paper-wood composite that looks as if it hasn’t aged.)

Half outdoors with seasonal sculpture exhibits, the 5,500-square-foot third floor is home to Swedish Hill, serving a satisfying café menu: breakfast dishes, big salads, housemade pasta, sandwiches, baked goods (the Austin-based company bought Louis Swiss Bakery in 2022), afternoon grazing boards, cocktails, wine, and beer. 

Atop the slopeside W Aspen, the WET Deck, an expansive bar, lounge, and dining venue with a heated pool and hot tub, hosts summer parties galore: American Pie Fourth of July (last year with a mechanical bull), Labor Day JAS Aspen (August 31), Oktoberfest Biergarten (September 27), regular DJs, and Sunday brunch, plus yoga and stand-up comedy. Capacity maxes out at 300 revelers; four mountain-view cabanas flank the southeastern side. Sip on enormous watermelon margaritas or coconut mojitos from hollowed-out fruit and frozen slushie drinks; nosh on burgers, charred corn, nachos, and the popular Elk Dawg, all roasted on a new rooftop grill. 

Elsewhere, find elevated dining on wraparound balconies at Catch Steak Aspen and Betula—both gazing south toward Aspen Mountain—and Las Montañas, with sunset views to Red Mountain and Restaurant Row below. Rooftops of luxury dwellings like the Residences at The Little Nell and the Dancing Bear Aspen offer spectacular scenery—if you’re lucky enough to rent, own, or know someone with access. For everyone else, the ultimate “rooftop”—crowning almighty Aspen Mountain at 11,212 feet above sea level—is the Sundeck, where free (with daily foot pass or season pass) Bluegrass Sundays return mid-June.