So here it is, mid- October, and we're still eating outside on lots of days – more lunch than dinner – but the point still stands that this region is huge on outdoor dining.

You can take it for granted, but for anyone who's frozen through a couple outdoor meals in, say, San Francisco in summer (hint: bring mittens), what we've got stands out as pretty great.

So while there are still some weeks ahead for pairing food and fresh air, I'm finally – and, yeah, it's been a while – getting back to the subject of favorite courtyards. From the foothills to Davis, from Freeport to midtown, there are plenty of good ones.

To recap, in the summer, we established a couple of points. First, courtyards can have a special bit of romance about them. Often they involve fountains or flowers or sparkly little lights. That doesn't mean you can't have a proper business lunch around the flowers and fountains, but courtyards are, first of all, the place to go on a date.

And there's a seclusion that's very different from sidewalk dining – also a very good thing, but not the subject at the moment – that can take you away, make even a business lunch a small escape. As my friend Maria Chacon Kniestedt says, they make lunch "feel like a mini-mini-vacation."

We are on the record here that any kind of vacation, even if it lasts from noon to 1 p.m., is worth the effort. It's even better if it involves good food.

So that's why we asked for favorite courtyards, with a particular emphasis on overlooked gems. And after collecting those suggestions, I deputized the Sac Foodies, a group of food lovers and public relations pros with one of the area's hottest culinary blogs (www.sacfoodies.com), to help check them out. Plus, now I can call the Foodies my posse.

Chacon Kniestedt is one of the Foodies leaders. She and I and co-Foodie Liz Conant took a mini-mini-vacation at one of the overlooked gems of midtown, the courtyard of Aioli Bodega Española at 18th and L streets.

Aioli's courtyard is the dictionary definition of what a midcity courtyard should be – just large enough and tucked snuggly between two wood buildings. A brightly colored tile fountain sits at one end, a big tree in a corner.

Although we were eating lunch a few feet from one of the busiest corners in midtown, this green, lush, calm space provided us with a mini-mini-vacation, for sure.

Those are the types of experiences we were seeking. So we defined a courtyard as being separated from the street by a legit fence or wall or barrier, and not just tables running along the front of a building.

As I said before, all those tables in front of the new R Street restaurants don't count. Great spots; just not courtyards. On the other hand, the outdoor dining area along 15th Street at R15 does count because it also goes a ways off the street into a secluded little patio.

Here's what readers liked – the most popular and some others worth getting to know.

On top of the list are the places everyone knows and likes. Those are the courtyards for the Firehouse, Lucca, Mulvaney's Building & Loan, Slocum House and Tower Café. Call it a five-way tie for first.

People know them. People love them. If you haven't been to one, ask the next person walking past. But here, now, are more overlooked gems that not everyone knows to tell you about. And all have good to seriously good food.

Sacramento

Casa Garden Restaurant: The lushly surrounded courtyard is no-frills but pretty and peaceful, and the restaurant is next to the Sacramento Children's Home, which gets all the proceeds from a meal; 2760 Sutterville Road, Sacramento, (916) 452-2809, www.casagardenrestaurant. org.

Freeport Bar & Grill: So close to the city core, and yet it feels like you're safely deep into Delta tranquility; 8259 Freeport Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 665-1169, www. freeportbarandgrill.com.

L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen: Because it's part of the larger courtyard belonging to the tall 1801 L Street lofts, there's an urbane excitement to the spot; 1801 L St. #50, Sacramento, (916) 443-6970, www.lwinelounge.com.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Tuesdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).