Where to Eat Outside in Copenhagen in 2026: 14 Winter Stops
Fourteen winter stops for hot food in the open air, a still-day terrace or a meal under cover.
By Gasoline Grill, cooking burgers to order in Copenhagen since 2016.
TL;DR
For a winter meal outside, Gasoline Grill Landgreven and DØP keep lunch short and hot. BaneGaarden adds roast pork sandwiches on Christmas-market weekends. For a slower meal under glass, book Gro Spiseri. Check dates and terrace service, and dress for the walk as well as the table.
On this page
- Why do summer outdoor lists stop working in November?
- Compare the 14 places
- Where can you eat outside on a bench or standing up?
- Which Christmas markets are worth eating at?
- Where Can You Eat With Shelter Close By?
- Which outdoor tables come with no promise of heat?
- Is Gasoline Grill Landgreven open in winter?
- Choose the place that suits the cold
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
A paper bag is a decent hand warmer. A fork is less useful when you have to take a glove off to hold it. In a Copenhagen winter, the food tells you how long the table can last: a hot sausage by the Round Tower takes minutes, while lunch on a rooftop calls for glass between you and the wind.
Start with the way you want to eat. There are benches and market stalls for a quick bite, terraces for a still day and warm rooms close to the open air when you want to linger. Each stop below says which of those you are getting.
Why do summer outdoor lists stop working in November?
Most outdoor dining guides to Copenhagen are summer guides, and from November many of their picks are closed or bare. Reffen, the big street food market on Refshaleøen, is closed for the winter and returns in March 2027.
The pavement terraces that stay out cannot build themselves a room either. On 18 September 2026, Copenhagen Municipality said it can approve light shelter such as higher planters, or planters with glass, placed at the sides so the area stays open to the street. Its guidance for outdoor areas asks restaurants to prefer electric heaters and blankets to gas heaters, and does not allow blankets and rugs on the city's streets and pavements, for safety reasons.
So the warmth has to come from the place itself, which makes the useful question what each one does about the cold. A courtyard can lay out blankets. A greenhouse or a room sits a step away. Food from a cart is eaten before it cools. And from mid-November the Christmas markets set up for exactly this weather.
Compare the 14 places
| Place | Eat | Against the cold |
|---|---|---|
| Gasoline Grill Landgreven | Cheeseburger or Green Burger | Outdoor seats only, daily from 11.00 |
| DØP | Hotdog or sausage with root mash | A cart: eat it standing up |
| Højbro Plads Christmas market | Gløgg and æbleskiver | 14 November to 20 December |
| Nytorv and Gammeltorv market | Grill stalls and Glühwein | 6 November to 21 December |
| Tivoli at Christmas | Treats from the market stalls | 13 November to 3 January, ticketed |
| BaneGaarden | Roast pork sandwich, æbleskiver | Weekend stalls, 21 November to 20 December |
| NORD Julemarked | Roast pork sandwiches, æbleskiver | Outdoor food corner, 4 to 6 December |
| Jul på Bakken | Christmas sweets and hot drinks | Weekends, 21 November to 20 December |
| Restaurant Klubben | Smørrebrød, meatballs, stjerneskud | Winter courtyard unconfirmed; indoor fallback |
| Gro Spiseri | Set lunch or dinner | Greenhouse on a rooftop farm |
| La Banchina | Sunday soup after the sauna | Harbour sauna, small wine bar |
| Café Dyrehaven | Eggs Benedict, potato smørrebrød | Outside tables kept for walk-ins |
| Kaffesalonen | Café food, deck bar | Lake deck; no winter hours given |
| Scarpetta Islands Brygge | Duck ravioli, Margherita | Terrace when the weather allows |
Where can you eat outside on a bench or standing up?
Start with food that keeps the outdoor stop short. A burger at a kiosk or a sausage at a cart gives you a hot meal without committing to an hour on a cold terrace, leaving the rest of the walk open.
1. Gasoline Grill Landgreven
Our Landgreven kiosk makes eating outside straightforward: every seat is outdoors. We opened here on 26 April 2016, and the green Made a Mano tiles and neon belong to this small, deliberately simple place. The meal still arrives from a kiosk, ready for the bench, rather than a dining room.
The Cheeseburger (DKK 110) brings together beef we grind in-house daily, cheddar, red onion, pickles and our Gasoline Grill Sauce. For a vegetable centre, the Green Burger (DKK 100) currently uses a whole Portobello mushroom, cooked to order, with cheddar, tomato, lettuce, red onion, pickles, sauce and herb oil. The mushroom is seasonal, so check the branch menu for the current version. Regular fries cost DKK 40, our homemade elderflower lemonade DKK 35, and a burger, fries and drink combo starts at DKK 155.
We open daily from 11.00 until sold out and take no reservations. Pre-order in the Gasoline Grill app if you want to spend less of your outdoor lunch waiting for it. There is no indoor fallback at Landgreven; The three branches below have seating inside and out, with different rooms for a meal out of the cold.
Hellerup, open since April 2021, has a room designed with BRIQ, furniture by Matrikula Studio and space inside and out. Our Matr option lets a vegetarian choose the same burger build as the person having beef, with a patty fermented from fungi and plants.
Carlsberg Byen was one of our first sit-down restaurants, opened in 2019 after three years of takeaway, with a large counter between the diners and cooks. The Cheeseburger brings cheddar, red onion, pickles and Gasoline Grill Sauce to that counter, with space inside for a winter meal.
Købmagergade opened in April 2025 as a slim room with a nod to classic Danish grill culture, with seats inside and out. Our Cheeseburger has cheddar, fresh red onion, pickles and Gasoline Grill Sauce; the Hot Chicken Sandwich is another choice when the table wants something different.
2. DØP
A sausage cart makes a different sort of winter stop. DØP stands beside the Round Tower on Købmagergade and beside Helligåndskirken on Strøget, putting lunch within a sightseeing walk. Its bread uses long-fermented dough, wholemeal flour and linseeds, a substantial base for the pork or beef sausage.
For something closer to a hot plate of food, the official visitor listing describes a spicy beef sausage with potato and parsnip mash; the classic hotdog has the familiar remoulade and fried onions. The cart format is the attraction here: you can eat standing up and carry on walking without making lunch a booked event. Check DØP's current service before setting off.
Which Christmas markets are worth eating at?
As November moves on, the Christmas markets give the walk more places to pause. Some offer a proper lunch, others a hot drink and something sweet. Pick by the food as well as the date, especially if the market is your main meal stop.
3. Højbro Plads Christmas market
The Højbro Plads Christmas market makes a sweet stop in the old town: warm æbleskiver, the round Danish pancake balls, and a glass of gløgg. Those are snacks to break up a walk, so eat a fuller lunch first if you are coming hungry.
The 2026 market brings stalls and stories from Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands together on Højbro Plads, giving it a particular focus among the central markets. It runs from 14 November to 20 December, opening at 11.00 on weekdays and Saturdays and at 12.00 on Sundays. Friday and Saturday hours extend to 21.00, leaving time for a warm drink after dark.
4. Nytorv and Gammeltorv Christmas market
A few minutes along Strøget, Nytorv and Gammeltorv's market gives the walk a more substantial food prospect. The organiser's 31 October update names a large round grill alongside speciality beer and Glühwein, the German mulled wine. No specific grill dishes are confirmed in that update, so choose from the stalls on the day rather than arriving for a promised sausage or roast.
The two historic squares form one market beside the shopping street, with a free ice rink and free skate loans adding a reason to stay after eating. The 2026 season runs from 6 November to 21 December; Copenhagen Visitor Service lists opening-day hours of 11.00 to 21.00. This is an easy stop during a central walk when you want the food and the evening's activity in the same place.
5. Tivoli at Christmas
Tivoli at Christmas turns an outdoor snack into a longer outing, with the market stalls, rides and garden lights sharing the evening. The Christmas programme promises sweet treats rather than a fixed stall menu. Tivoli's food directory also lists warm churros with toppings and Bolchekogeriet's sweets; check which outlets are serving during your visit.
The gardens' Christmas season runs from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, with fireworks on 25 and 26 December. Admission requires a ticket, so allow time for the gardens as well as the food. For a short, unticketed snack stop, the central square markets make a simpler choice.
6. BaneGaarden
Beyond the city-centre stalls, BaneGaarden occupies nine wooden barns built by DSB in 1909 to store timber and railway materials. Their restoration gives this stretch between Vesterbro and Sydhavn its own setting: eating takes place among old railway buildings, with the Christmas market inside the barns and food outside between them.
The Christmas food menu is specific enough to plan lunch around. A DKK 95 roast pork sandwich comes in brioche with red cabbage, house-pickled cucumber and dijonnaise; æbleskiver arrive with icing sugar and jam, and the gløgg comes with or without alcohol. Thin pancakes with sugar, jam or Nutella give children another sweet option.
The food stalls open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12.00 to 17.00 during the 21 November to 20 December market weekends. Entry is free, Perron bakery keeps its own hours, and the tree in Vildhaven is lit on 29 November at 16.00. Make it a weekend lunch rather than a weekday detour.
7. NORD Julemarked
North along Strandvejen, NORD Julemarked builds an outdoor food corner in the grounds of Skovriderkroen in Charlottenlund. Roast pork sandwiches and hot dogs make it a meal stop; gløgg, æbleskiver and hot chocolate from the coffee carts cover the slower finish. The tables and benches are under open sky, so bring the same warm layers you would for a winter walk.
The host building dates to 1936, when architect Einar Rosenstand designed the inn on Strandvejen. That established outing destination now provides the backdrop for the market's lights, stalls and family activities. The 2026 market lasts just 4 to 6 December; Friday 4 December has free admission. On the other days, adult admission is DKK 100, or DKK 70 for an early-bird ticket bought online before 20 November; a ticket is valid for one day.
8. Jul på Bakken
Carry on north to Klampenborg and Jul på Bakken makes the food stop part of a trip through Dyrehaven. Its 2026 programme adds a new cake area to the Christmas stalls, alongside sweets and hot drinks. The event page does not name the cakes or a complete food menu, so treat this as a place to choose a sweet snack as you walk, with a restaurant meal available as a separate option.
Food and entertainment have long belonged together here. Bakken's own history recounts the legend of Kirsten Piil's spring in 1583 and describes the innkeepers and performers who pitched their tents nearby. This winter's celebrations run on weekends from 21 November to 20 December; the ice rink also opens on selected weekdays. Check individual restaurants' Christmas hours if you want to finish sitting down.
Where Can You Eat With Shelter Close By?
After a market lunch eaten on your feet, a slower meal needs somewhere warmer. Gro Spiseri seats diners indoors in a rooftop greenhouse. La Banchina gives you a sauna by the water before soup, and Klubben has a dining room if its courtyard is out of use. Check winter courtyard service before you go.
9. Restaurant Klubben
Back in Vesterbro, Restaurant Klubben carries a different piece of Copenhagen history. It was Tove Ditlevsen's regular pub, and its garden was created on a former car park in her memory. The kitchen keeps the connection to everyday Danish food through dishes such as frikadeller, biksemad and stegt flæsk, served in the old style on steel dishes and platters.
At lunch, the 2026 smørrebrød menu offers two Danish meatballs with red cabbage for DKK 119, or stjerneskud for DKK 249, combining steamed and fried fish fillet. These are fuller, sit-down meals than a market snack.
Ask before planning a winter courtyard meal. The current history page describes winter dining indoors and the garden as a summer space, so an outdoor table with heat cannot be promised. Smørrebrød is served from 12.00 to 16.00. Keep Klubben as an indoor Danish lunch option if the garden is closed.
10. Gro Spiseri
To keep the sense of being outdoors while eating a full meal, go up to Gro Spiseri on the ØsterGro rooftop farm. Its greenhouse holds one communal table for 25, with the farm around it. The kitchen uses herbs, flowers and honey from the roof, while most of the farm's vegetable harvest goes to its members; the relationship between garden and plate is more specific than a view through glass.
The 2026 Christmas menu follows that seasonal approach with herring smørrebrød, roasted duck with plum, pepper and tomato chutney, and braised pork with porter jus, quince purée and sauerkraut. Dessert is Gro a la mande, its barley version of risalamande. This is a set meal shared around the long table, with a vegetarian option available.
The all-year greenhouse needs an advance booking. A three-course lunch on Friday, Saturday or Sunday at 12.30 costs DKK 380; five-course dinner costs DKK 595. Check the offered seating when you book, as published hours differ between the site's menu and footer. The greenhouse gives shelter, though the rooftop itself remains exposed.
11. La Banchina
Out on Refshaleøen, La Banchina occupies the former guardhouse and workers' waiting room of the Burmeister & Wain shipyard. Christer Bredgaard converted it into a restaurant and wine bar in 2015 and 2016, preserving its weathered character. The little harbour building makes more sense once you know people gathered here before the restaurant arrived.
In the colder months, it becomes a 16-seat wine bar serving small bites and snacks. The winter food occasion is Sunday Soup & Sauna: from 18 October to the end of March, DKK 120 buys an hour in the shared sauna, with soup afterwards at a separate special price. No fixed soup ingredients are published, so choose it for a hot bowl after the sauna rather than a particular recipe.
Tickets for the Sunday drop-in are sold at the bar on the day. Private sauna sessions can be booked for up to eight people, lasting 1 hour 45 minutes at DKK 800 Monday to Thursday or DKK 950 Friday to Sunday. The warmth comes from the sauna and small bar; do not expect a heated outdoor dining terrace.
Which outdoor tables come with no promise of heat?
On a dry, still afternoon, an ordinary café table can still be the best place to pause. These last three put a boulevard, lake or harbour beside the food, with indoor rooms available if outdoor service or the weather rules out the terrace.
12. Café Dyrehaven
After the rooftop and harbour, Café Dyrehaven returns you to street level on Sønder Boulevard. Brown wooden panels and old yellowed paintings inside retain the character of the neighbourhood café, while the outside tables face the boulevard. It is a place you can use for a morning coffee, lunch or an evening meal, with the choice changing through the day.
Lunch includes Eggs Benedict and kartoffelmad, the Danish potato-on-rye sandwich; evening cooking takes inspiration from France and England. Rothaus and Ebeltoft beers are on tap, making the lunch-and-a-beer option quite different from a sweet market stop. Weekday breakfast begins at 07.30.
Reservations cover indoor dining only, and the outside tables are kept for walk-ins. There are no daytime reservations on Saturday or Sunday. Choose an outdoor seat on a dry, calm day and keep an indoor meal as a separate possibility, subject to space; heating is not confirmed.
13. Kaffesalonen
For a lakeside pause, Kaffesalonen has been serving Copenhagen since 1933. Its café at Peblinge Dossering 6 and the floating Bådebroen pavilion put the water beside the meal. The café's posters from Copenhagen's cultural life give the indoor room a history of its own when the lake wind sends you back inside.
The smørrebrød menu goes beyond a generic café lunch: potato with lovage mayonnaise, cauliflower purée, roasted and pickled onions, candy-striped beetroot and herbs is DKK 85. Butter-fried plaice with house remoulade, capers, lemon and dill is DKK 115. These are dishes from the café menu, so ask what can be served on the deck before choosing your table.
The café and Bådebroen publish separate hours, without a specific winter assurance for the deck. Check its actual service and weather conditions on the day. The café supplies the warmer alternative if lunch beside the water becomes lunch looking out at it.
14. Scarpetta Islands Brygge
Across the harbour, Scarpetta Islands Brygge ends the walk with an Italian dinner. The kitchen builds its Italian dinners around familiar dishes with some less familiar ingredients. The large terrace is close to the water and operates when the weather allows.
The menu dated 3 November to 30 December 2026 includes duck-confit ravioli with rosemary, black kale and hazelnut (DKK 195), alongside a Margherita with buffalo mozzarella and basil (DKK 115). Vitello tonnato brings grilled veal, tuna sauce and capers for DKK 135. The ravioli gives a winter dinner more substance than another drink-and-snack stop.
Dinner begins at 17.30. Ask whether the terrace is in service before booking around an outdoor meal, because its proximity to the harbour does not come with a promise of winter heating. If the evening has turned cold, take the meal indoors and leave the waterfront walk for afterwards.
Is Gasoline Grill Landgreven open in winter?
Yes. We open Landgreven every day from 11.00 until sold out, with outdoor seating only and no reservations. Pre-order in the Gasoline Grill app and collect at the kiosk. Christmas holiday hours can differ, so check our locations page before a holiday visit.
The Original Burger (DKK 110) combines our daily-ground beef with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles and Gasoline Grill Sauce. For something sweet afterwards, at Landgreven we serve chocolate mousse with brownie crunch and lemon mousse with shortbread crunch, both DKK 45. A burger and either mousse total DKK 155 before drinks or fries.
Our December 2025 holiday post explained that at least one Gasoline Grill stays open year round. For Landgreven specifically, follow the branch hours: an outdoor lunch here comes with the weather, and a bench is the whole dining room.
Choose the place that suits the cold
A winter meal outside can be as brief as a sausage beside the Round Tower or as long as a rooftop lunch. Start with what you want to eat, then give it the right setting: a bench for a burger, market stalls for æbleskiver, glass around a slow meal, or soup after the sauna. Save exposed tables for calm days. You can keep the city around you without spending the whole meal wishing you had chosen somewhere warmer.
Frequently asked questions
Do Copenhagen restaurants put heaters outside in winter?
Heating varies by venue, and an outdoor heater does not mean a terrace is open all winter. Confirm service before travelling. For an indoor meal with the farm in view, book the greenhouse at Gro Spiseri. Landgreven has outdoor seats only.
Is Reffen open in winter?
No. Reffen on Refshaleøen is closed for the winter and opens again in March 2027. On the same island, La Banchina keeps its sauna and a small winter wine bar going, with a drop-in Soup & Sauna on Sundays until the end of March.
Can you book an outdoor table in Copenhagen in winter?
Booking depends on the venue. Café Dyrehaven takes bookings for indoor tables only and keeps outside tables for walk-ins. Gasoline Grill Landgreven takes no reservations at all. Gro Spiseri's greenhouse is the exception: every seat there must be booked ahead.
When do Copenhagen's Christmas markets open in 2026?
The market on Nytorv and Gammeltorv runs from 6 November to 21 December, Tivoli from 13 November to 3 January 2027 and Højbro Plads from 14 November to 20 December. BaneGaarden and Jul på Bakken run every weekend from 21 November to 20 December, and NORD Julemarked in Charlottenlund runs from 4 to 6 December.
Sources
- Gasoline Grill Landgreven location and seating
- Gasoline Grill Landgreven menu and prices
- Gasoline Grill menu descriptions
- Gasoline Grill locations and opening hours
- Gasoline Grill holiday hours post, December 2025
- Reffen winter closure notice
- Copenhagen Municipality on winter shelter for outdoor serving, 18 September 2026
- Copenhagen Municipality guidance on outdoor areas
- Visit Copenhagen on DØP, Købmagergade
- Visit Copenhagen on DØP by Helligåndskirken
- Højbro Plads Christmas market 2026
- Copenhagen Visitor Service on the Christmas market at Nytorv
- Tivoli Gardens Christmas season
- Christmas in Tivoli
- Jul på BaneGaarden 2026
- NORD Julemarked 2026
- Jul på Bakken 2026
- Restaurant Klubben courtyard and hours
- Restaurant Klubben smørrebrød menu 2026
- Gro Spiseri
- Gro Spiseri menu and prices
- Cofoco guide to dining outside, 31 March 2026
- La Banchina in summer and winter
- La Banchina sauna and Soup & Sauna
- Café Dyrehaven bookings and hours
- Visit Copenhagen on Kaffesalonen
- Kaffesalonen opening hours
- Scarpetta Islands Brygge menu and hours
- Nytorv and Gammeltorv organiser dates and grill update
- Tivoli food directory
- BaneGaarden railway-barn history
- BaneGaarden Christmas food stalls and menu
- Skovriderkroen history
- Bakken history
- Restaurant Klubben history and seasonal garden description
- Gro Spiseri Christmas menu 2026
- La Banchina shipyard history
- Kaffesalonen café history
- Kaffesalonen smørrebrød menu
- Official DØP food and location listing
- Gasoline Grill Hellerup: official location and seating
- Gasoline Grill Carlsberg Byen: official location and seating
- Gasoline Grill Købmagergade: official location and seating
- Cory Smith: Klaus Wittrup and the first sit-down restaurants
- Gasoline Grill Hellerup menu
- Gasoline Grill Købmagergade menu
By Gasoline Grill
Gasoline Grill started in a petrol-station kiosk on Landgreven in 2016. We grind our beef fresh every day and cook every burger to order. Here, we share food stories and places to eat around Copenhagen, from a quick lunch to a slower evening.
