Sanitas Brewing

Like your best bud's back yard, there's something about the two-level patio at Sanitas Brewing that is instantly welcoming and relaxing. Maybe it's the views of the Foothills (and the brewery's namesake, Mount Sanitas), or the train tracks lined with green grass, or the cornhole and bocce ball courts, or the indoor/outdoor bar, where you can order a saison or black IPA or a "train beer" through the window. The patio is filled with picnic and communal tables and can hold about 100 people, which it does on some weekend nights. The owners just planted apple trees and a garden with corn, pumpkins and hops that they hope to use in a beer this fall. They also planted wildflowers and did some landscaping to keep rainwater from pooling in the bocce ball courts. "We had ducks on it last September," Nichols says.