Where to Take Your Dog to Lunch

Dining out with your pooch

If like my wife and me, you don’t have children, your dog happily becomes your whole life, the center of your existence. Then again, I have a funny feeling that even if we did have kids, Django—our famed greyhound—would hold sway over any possible child as he is so darned charming.

What that means, is that we do nearly everything out of our house with our dog: shop and do errands with our dog, head to work with our dog. And naturally, that also includes dining out with our dog.

Fortunately, a slew of restaurateurs and bar owners have recently figured out that my wife and I are not alone—that dogs make fine company at restaurants, often more friendly than any human dining partners—and that many dog lovers feel and act similarly to us.

Red Owl Tavern/Square 1682

Connected to the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in Old City, this is the crème de la crème for the pooch set. Not only is a dog grooming station and a tonsorial consultant usually on hand to pamper your canine, the chef has weekly specials made fresh such as the Doggy’s Dream with bacon and short rib. Hey, I’ll eat that. While a portion of the cost of your drinks benefits Lulu’s Rescue, there are often adoptable dogs on display in case you don’t have one to share a meal with you.

The same adopt-ability and drinks donation (to the no-kill Operation Ava shelter) is true of Kimpton Hotel Palomar’s downtown boite, Square 1682, off Rittenhouse. And they, too, have weekly meal specials for your pooch. The one thing that is different from 1682 and Red Owl is that the former has a monthly BYOD Brunch and that the latter has nightly Yappy Hours. Man, is that cute. Plus, both hotels are pet-friendly, just in case you both have too much kibble and need to sleep it off. redowltavern.com and square1682.com

Four Dogs Tavern/White Dog Café

Oh, see, this isn’t even fair—a West Chester bar and grille, built into an aged stable, is serving reasonably priced New American brasserie fare and is favorable to canine customers and is named Four Dogs. Dag. The same thing is true of Judy Wicks’ legendary University City eatery. Not only are there dog tiles and dog paintings on every wall and sconce, there are statues of schnauzers at its doors, and dogs eat at outdoor tables with their person friends while being served meaty treats. Woof. thefourdogstavern.com and whitedog.com

White Dog Café, Wayne.

White Dog Café, Haverford.

The Hamilton Kitchen & Bar

One of Allentown’s most prominent white linen cocktail bars and seasonal American salons has a lovely patio which offers dogs their own water bowls—which is probably better than offering them cocktails. thehamiltonkitchen.com

The Hamilton Kitchen, Allentown.

Otto’s Brauhaus

Here is a designer wiener house that sells meals to wiener pups or hot dogs to real dogs. But, the bratwurst toast of Horsham surely keeps things on the up and up and offer its pooch customers the most loving care. ottosbrauhauspa.com

The Vault Brewing Company

Yardley’s tapas, pizza, and craft beer gastropub is not only dog conscious on its outdoor deck, but they also feature live jazz on the regular deck. Dogs and jazz? Why don’t I just move in? vaultbrewing.com

Vault Brewing Company, Yardley.

The Trestle Inn

The eye of the Callowhill-Eraserhood neighborhood hosts dog-friendly happy hours to support Build the Rail Park. Plus, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society is always around during happy hour with dogs ready for adoption. And it’s got the vintage go-go bar feel. A win-win-win for everyone and every dog. thetrestleinn.com n

Django Amorosi at Kimpton Hotel Monaco, Phila PA Photo ©Reese Amorosi

A.D. Amorosi