Where to dine with your dog? It's becoming more and more common to find pet-friendly eateries. Restaurants with outdoor seating have long encouraged patrons to bring their pooches, and now some are even offering haute canine cuisine. The dog menu on the patio at Pub 819 in Hopkins, Minnesota, features Turkey Muttloaf loaded with veggies, oats and flax; Salmon Cakes; and a Pup Burger, along with frozen marrow bones and pigs' ears. A more recent trend is to bring the party inside, especially in the tap rooms of local craft breweries, where it's not uncommon to see people settled into armchairs with a cold one, dogs curled up at their feet.
Recently, according to Nation's Restaurant News, a handful of restaurants have kicked dining with your doggie up a notch. They're designed for people who take their dogs to dog parks and wish they could have a beer while throwing the ball for their best friend.
It's a dog park/restaurant hybrid concept and allows dogs to play in enclosed areas while patrons enjoy their dinner or a cocktail. One such hybrid, Mutts Canine Cantina, is a new franchise based in Dallas and Fort Worth. Members pay a daily, monthly or yearly fee for access to the dog park, pet wash stations and other amenities, along with offering a full menu. There are movie nights, exercise-with-pets classes and other events, all designed to provide patrons and their pets with a fun and interactive experience. How's the concept doing? They're opening three additional locations in Austin over the next three years with a long-range plan of expanding into 40 major markets nationwide.
A similar concept, Bar K, opened last year in Kansas City, Missouri. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Bar K also offers a dog menu including beef stew, breakfast burritos and cookies. At The Watering Bowl in Denver, dogs enjoy a 7,000-square-foot dog park while their humans choose from 15 tap beers, pizza, burgers and tacos.
It's about creating a place for people to party with their pups, and what dog lover wouldn't love that?