It's May and Seattle craves sun. We, the people, are hot for it—like Icarus, the closer, the better. Logically, there is no better way to catch rays than on a rooftop, and no better time than while drinking copiously.

If you're feeling romancey, you can't beat the rooftop deck overlooking Elliott Bay at The Pink Door (1919 Post Alley, 443-3241). The restaurant's troupe of Pilates-practicing, scantily clad women on swings cannot compete with its stunning rooftop view framed by foliage and soft white Christmas lights. The beet salad ($9) is amazing if you're into beets and putrid if you're not, but the house-made Lasagna Pink Door ($16) pleases just about everybody.

In the University District, Cedars (4759 Brooklyn Ave NE, 527-5247) offers an elevated dining deck along the side of the restaurant, overlooking a neighboring Walgreens parking lot. The deck doubles as a thoroughfare for customers during peak dining hours, with clusters of strangers milling around your table as you eat, while waiting for their own tables. This might make some people uncomfortable. I find it delightful. Two women gossip in front of my order of paneer tikka ($5.95) while their dates check on table status. "Does he have a lazy eye or is that performance art?" From what I can gather, there is a blind double date in progress. He of the inscrutable lazy eye had bragged of "[living his] art." His unimpressed date appears to live in a tanning bed.

"You two don't really seem to see eye to eye," the other woman agrees. The people-watching at Cedars is as delicious as their Tandoori Delight ($7.95), but if eavesdropping isn't your thing, bring a date and hit the deck at dusk, when a slight chill drives most patrons inside. Buy a couple bottomless chais ($2) and a Mazza plate ($12.95) and savor the red glow of your lover's skin, cast by the nearby Walgreens sign.

At Queen Anne's Ozzie's (105 W Mercer St, 284-4618), glass tables and padded lounge chairs appear lifted from a hotel poolside and rearranged on the rooftop deck. The area is enclosed by a wooden fence and decorated with a lush array of fake plants. Eventually, the deck will have its own bartender and waitress, but for now order downstairs and take your booze ($3.50 microbrews, $2.50 domestics, $3 wells, before 6 pm) and cheap cheeseburger with fries ($2.95, also before 6 pm) on up.

For the optimal rooftop experience, cut work at 3:30 on a sunny afternoon and enjoy the strong rays and a few drinks on one of these quiet decks alone. After a while, join the retired couple at the next table who don't approve of how their grandchildren are being raised, and marvel along as they remark that roofs aren't just for bird shit, suicides, and fiddlers anymore. recommended