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About

Most rooftop views downtown stop at the city. This one keeps going, out past the Reedy and over the rooftops to the Blue Ridge sitting along the horizon on a clear day. From the top of the Embassy Suites at RiverPlace, that longer sightline is what sets it apart from the other rooftops in town. The kitchen runs a seasonal, locally sourced menu of shareable plates and entrees that turns over through the year, so what you found in October will not be what is there in April. Behind the bar it is bottled house cocktails, reworked classics, regionally brewed beer and a curated wine list. Brunch runs Thursday through Sunday from 11 to 3, a wider window than most downtown kitchens keep. Worth knowing before you go: the way up is the elevator inside the Embassy Suites lobby, to the 8th floor. There is an indoor lounge plus two outdoor terraces, and outdoor tables are first come, first served, so a reservation gets you a table but not a guaranteed one in the open air. Leashed dogs are welcome on the terrace next to the bar, with a standing Yappy Hour on Tuesday afternoons. Valet is available at the hotel and the RiverPlace garage sits next door. Ask around and the view is what people bring up first, particularly in the hour before sunset, and it is the easy answer most of us give when someone visiting wants a drink somewhere memorable. Whether you end up on the terrace or in the lounge comes down to timing.