Dog Friendly Restaurants

Warmer weather means spending more time outdoors. And that includes eating outside more often as well. I don’t know about you, but I find everything tastes better when I’m consuming my meal while enjoying the fresh air and warm sunshine. Which is why I love finding restaurants that have outdoor seating areas. There’s nothing better than a cold glass of homemade lemonade and good company. Which also includes my dogs!

As the popularity of pet ownership has increased over the years, so has the number of establishments that welcome our furry kids. More and more restaurants are opening their patios to the dogs, allowing them to sit beside us while we indulge in a scrumptious meal. If you’ve ever been to Europe, then you know they’ve been doing this for years. It’s only been recently you've see this trend here in the US.

While not every dog is a great candidate to be a dining partner, many are. And there are still laws that need to be followed. For example, you may let your dog clean your plate after you’ve finished eating at home, but this is a big no no in any restaurant. While you can share food with them, you cannot feed it to them off of any utensil either. Some restaurants will go as far as having dog bowls filled with water for our pooches. And unless it’s a canine bakery, it’s unlikely there will be anything on the menu for your pups to order.

Here in State College, the number of dog friendly restaurants has increased. In fact, one restaurant has designated one night a week when they encourage pet owners to bring their fur kids! Pooches on the Patio at Home D might perhaps be my favorite night of the week during the summer!

Other local establishments that have outdoor dining and welcome dogs are

Panera Bread

Dairy Queen

Duffy’s Tavern

Inferno

Liberty Craft House

Luna 2

Letterman’s

Cafe Lemont

Kelly’s Steak and Seafood House

Champs

Zola’s