Dining With Your Dog

Don’t leave Lucy, Bailey or

Luna behind. These Sacramento eateries will happily welcome you and your furry friend.

By Marybeth Bizjak

Sacramento resident Debbie Soto doesn’t go anywhere without Charlie, her 11-year-old poodle mix. Luckily for her (and for him), Sacramento is a very dog-friendly city, and getting dog-friendlier all the time. “It’s a great place for Charlie,” says Soto. “There’s lots of variety.”

She’s right: There’s no shortage here of restaurants, cafes, bars, beer gardens and other watering holes that welcome canine companions. It’s partly a function of the weather: Because Sacramento has eight or more months of sunshine every year, patios, sidewalk seating and other outdoor dining spaces are legion, making it easy to bring your pup along. There’s also a strong dog culture here. Sacramento two-leggeds not only expect to share public spaces with four-leggeds; they actually enjoy it. Having a cute dog at your side is almost a guarantee that someone will stop to meet, admire and pet your pooch.

Some restaurants really roll out the welcome mat for canines. At LowBrau Bierhalle in Midtown, a server will bring out a bowl of water for your best friend before fetching your pint of Allagash White or Trumer Pils. When you walk in the door at Juno’s Kitchen in East Sacramento, they’ll thoughtfully offer your doggy a morsel (or two or three) of grilled chicken or smoked trout—the same stuff that goes in your sandwich. And in Folsom (a 20-minute drive from downtown Sacramento), Lazy Dog restaurant and bar even has its own “pup menu,” offering a grilled chicken or hamburger patty bowl, with brown rice and veggies, for $5.

Here’s a look at Sacramento’s best dog-friendly

dining options by neighborhood:

IceBear relaxing in Midtown

@fizzinsac Downtown

Near the State Capitol building, you and your doggo can find all manner of places to dine well. At the upscale end of the spectrum is Camden Spit & Larder (555 Capitol Mall), a handsome London-inspired brasserie that serves oysters on the half shell, an elevated take on an English meat pie, and a $52 New York steak. Capitol Garage (1500 K St.) offers homier fare, including BBQ pork sliders and tater tacos, and incidentally is a great place for brunch. Another popular brunch spot is Cafeteria 15L (1116 15th St.), with its large, comfortable patio full of lounge furniture and offerings like brioche French toast and wildberry pancakes. DOCO is shorthand for Downtown Commons, home to Golden 1 Center and a gaggle of surrounding watering holes. There’s Sauced (1028 Seventh St.) for outstanding barbecue; Fizz Champagne & Bubbles Bar (615 David J. Stern Walk), serving—you guessed it—champagne and other sparklers; and Estelle Bakery & Patisserie (615 David J. Stern Walk), offering butter-laden French pastries along with tartines, salads, French omelets and quiches.

The Snug

Gabriel Teague

R Street Corridor

The stretch of R Street from 10th to 17th is home to some of Sacramento’s hippest restaurants, bars and cafes. At one end is Fox & Goose Public House (1001 R St.), a traditional English alehouse open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and serving British staples such as bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie and Cornish pasties as well as American pub grub like burgers. At the other end is Beast + Bounty (1701 R St.), a beautifully designed dinner house that caters to both carnivores and herbivores with a menu of pizzas, pastas, meats and vegetables, all cooked over live fire on a 7-foot-long open hearth. During the pandemic, city o icials closed R Street between 14th and 15th to vehicle tra ic, allowing the restaurants there to spill out onto the street with picnic tables and tents. Dog-appropriate restaurants and bars on that section of R Street include Iron Horse Tavern (1800 15th St.), a popular spot for happy-hour drinks and noshes; Mas Taco Bar (1800 15th St.), serving margaritas and tacos with inventive fillings such as banh mi shrimp and Indian butter chicken; Burgers & Brew (1409 R St.), o ering nearly 20 di erent burgers and a top-notch selection of craft beers; R15 (1431 R St.), a casual spot with a sports bar vibe and a wide-ranging menu that includes pizzas, salads, burgers and plates such as grilled flat-iron steak; and The Shady Lady Saloon (1409 R St.), Sacramento’s original craft cocktail bar. While technically not on R Street, there’s also The Snug (1800 15th St.), a first-rate cocktail bar, modeled after an Irish pub, with a lovely walledo patio that’s entered from R Street. Southside Park

Binchoyaki

This little downtown-adjacent neighborhood has been steadily earning a reputation as a destination for food lovers. South (2005 11th St.) is widely considered to have the best fried chicken in town (so moist! so crisp!) and also serves delicious updated takes on Southern classics like fried catfish, hush puppies and banana pudding. Binchoyaki (2226 10th St.) is a modern Japanese restaurant o ering small plates of delicious grilled meats along with ramen, yakitori and tempura. With its expansive patio, Urban Roots Brewery & Smokehouse (1322 V St.) is a great place to enjoy excellent barbecue and beer brewed on the premises in the company of your favorite pooch.

Francisco Chavira

William Thompson

Zócalo

Bug and Yolandi, Sibling by Pushkin’s

@yolandi_eats_la Midtown

This restaurant-dense neighborhood o ers many options for dining out with your dog. One of Sacramento’s leading fine-dining destinations, The Waterboy (2000 Capitol Ave.) serves exquisite Mediterranean fare such as veal sweetbreads, house-made pastas and pan-roasted duck breast. For upscale Mexican fare, there’s Zócalo (1801 Capitol Ave.), which has a fabulous patio that wraps around two sides of the building and extends into the street. Sibling by Pushkin’s (1813 Capitol Ave.) is a gluten-free restaurant that’s super popular, even with people who don’t follow a no-gluten diet. The menu of breakfast dishes, sandwiches, salads and bowls features lots of vegan options as well. At LowBrau Bierhalle (1050 20th St.), you can enjoy a bratwurst or Polish dog on a pretzel roll and some duck fat fries out on the roomy patio deck or down on the street, which the city closed o to car tra ic during the pandemic. Bring your pooch to Truitt Bark Park (1818 Q St.) to frolic o leash with other dogs, then head across the street to Midtown Spirits (1717 19th St.) for a cocktail or frozen slushy made with vodka, gin or rum distilled on-site. If you’re in the mood for something sweet, make your way to Rick’s Dessert Diner (2401 J St.), serving up towering slices of old-fashioned American-style cakes and pies, or Ginger Elizabeth Patisserie (2413 J St.), for elegant macarons and cream pu s.

Shea Evans East Sacramento

Just east of Midtown, this largely residential neighborhood has grown in culinary importance in recent years. In 2019 and 2021, the Michelin Guide singled out Canon (1719 34th St.) with a Bib Gourmand award for its creative, globally inspired shareable plates, such as house-made potato tots with mole and pepitas. Canon’s covered, heated outdoor patio is especially welcoming to dogs. Named after the owners’ beloved dog, Juno’s Kitchen (3675 J St.) is a gourmet sandwich shop where the breads are baked in-house and fillings range from panko-encrusted eggplant with roasted peppers and Manchego cheese to pastrami with Gruyere, braised cabbage and pickles. Selland’s Market-Cafe (5340 H St.) has an enormous raised-deck patio, roomy enough for the largest pups, an order-at-the-counter system and an assortment of tasty sandwiches, salads, hot entrees and pizzas prepared in a wood-burning oven. Its sister restaurant, OBO’ Italian Table and Bar (3145 Folsom Blvd.), has a smaller patio, a similar ordering system and a menu of house-made pastas, pizzas, hot entrees, salads and sandwiches. Both are owned by Selland Family Restaurants, the folks behind high-end Ella Dining Room & Bar and The Kitchen, Sacramento’s first (and only) Michelin-starred restaurant.