With more dogs than kids in the City limits, Seattle is a pretty dog friendly City. We have over 20 dog parks and several dog friendly restaurants…or at least restaurants that claim do be dog friendly.
I have found that some restaurants are more dog friendly than others. I have been to “dog friendly” restaurants that are more “you can bring your dog to our restaurant if they don’t ever make a peep and you keep them under the table so other patrons don’t see them.” I have also been to restaurants where it meant “we will love and kiss on your dog, bring them water, maybe have a special treat on the menu for them and, although your dog should be well behaved, the occasional bark is tolerated.”
We took a road trip to Bend, Oregon for vacation a couple of weeks ago. Part of the draw was that we heard it was super dog friendly. We did see dogs everywhere when we were there but based on our restaurant experience alone, this is wins as the most dog friendly town I have every been to. We certainly experienced the latter of the two scenarios above at the restaurants we visited.
We ate at three different dog friendly restaurants while were there. All get 5 stars in my book.
10 Barrel Brewing Company
We ate here with our new friends from Ruffwear. The place was filling up fast with the lunch-time crowd when we got there but we were able to grab a seat on their patio near the entrance.
Unfortunately, being by the entrance meant that Chester and Gretel barked every time someone else walked in with a dog. The other dogs on the patio barked too so they weren’t alone. Neither the staff or other people eating batted an eye. In fact, it felt kind of like Norm’s where everybody knows your dog. People started chatting and talking to each other about their dogs.
I had the lamb burger – ground lamb with sun=dried cranberries, feta cheese, artichoke tapenade and a balsamic reduction – that was to die for. I love me a good burger and I think this burger beat every beef burger I have every had.
Cascade Lakes Brewing Company
We ate here on the way back from a hike and drive up the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. A thunderstorm moved in but they had seat for us under an umbrella on the back patio.
It rained so hard we did get a little wet from the backsplash but it was nothing like our waitress who had to jaunt back and forth several times in the rain between the dry restaurant and our table. She didn’t even bat and eye. She even said she liked coming outside to the quiet patio to see Chester and Gretel because it was loud and crazy inside. We loved the ski gondola sitting outside and wished they had a table in there to eat. It would have been drier and way cooler 🙂
This place was really cool. It’s located in and old catholic schoolhouse turned hotel, brewery, movie theater and soaking pool. There were seats out front along a downtown street but when we asked about sitting with the dogs they ushered us around the side to a garden patio.
There were plenty of other people there but it felt secluded. Chester and Gretel must have felt it too because they were nice and calm. Gretel actually laid down on the warm bricks.
I had a burger with a gluten-free bun. It was by far one of the best gluten-free buns I have ever eaten. The whole burger was delicious. The server was great and was really nice to Chester and Gretel.
I really can’t say enough about dog-friendly Bend. There were so many parks in town, so many places to hike, the hotel we stayed in – the Red Lion – was great (for many reasons but especially because they only charge a $15 pet cleaning fee PER STAY with no number or weight limit on pets) and we had a good experience at every restaurant we ate at with Chester and Gretel.
We definitely plan to go back. We will want to try new dog-friendly restaurants when we do but will will definitely hit one of these up again. The hard part will be deciding which one.
Sue at Talking Dogs says
What a great tour! You’ve made me hungry 🙂 Amazing how dog friendly (our part of the country definitely is not.)
Roxy the traveling dog says
Wow, those look like great places. If we get over there next year, we will have to stop.
Jessica@YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner says
Wait until you see our post on our favorite hike we did there! 🙂
Oz the Terrier says
Now those sound like places we would love to visit. The lamb burger even has Ma drooling, Miss Jess. BOL Bend sounds like it truly is dog-friendly and that is great!
Flea says
Aw man! I’ve never been that far west, but now I want to visit! What do you think the chances are of Blog Paws happening out there ever?
Bethany says
The Old St. Francis School is my very favorite place in all of Oregon but the last time I was there they had no dogs on the property signs everywhere. I am so excited about them allowing dogs I may pack up and go there and even stay forever!!!
Jules says
A delicious gluten-free bun AND the establishment is dog friendly? I need to take a trip to Bend just to try this place! I love it when restaurants are dog friendly, I automatically look at them more favorably. I think it says something about the owners.
Jules of Canines & Couture
houndstooth says
I love finding truly dog friendly places! It sounds like such a great weekend for you. I am envious! We have some dog friendly places here, but it’s been so hot that there’s no way we could stand eating out on a patio with them. I’m ready for fall! lol
Amber DaWeenie says
More and more dog-friendly restaurants are popping up all around Florida. I think they’re great!
🙂
Jen says
What a great tour you gave us! I really need to check out some dog friendly pubs around here. I know they are hidden somewhere! That $15 cleaning fee for any size dog rocks! We always have issues in that area with the big dogs. The bigger they are the more money down, kind sucks because in all honestly that aren’t very messy when we are traveling and if they are we make sure to clean up after them!
Jessica Rhae says
Yeah…the $15 thing is a great deal. The hotel said that rabbits and ferrets have stayed too. Motel 6 doesn’t charge anything for dogs and I don’t think they have a limit either. We had 5 weenies in one room one time and they didn’t even bat an eye.
emma says
Nice looking places to be. Dog friendly is great and it sounds like you can just eat and don’t have to be doing a brewery tour or anything.
2 brown dawgs says
Looks like some great places to eat. 🙂
Goose says
🙂 After all of your amazing posts about Bend, it’s now on the must-see list! Thanks for all the great information you’ve been posting!
Jessica Rhae says
Watch for the hiking info coming soon 🙂
Jan wood says
The other fabulous dog friendly brewery (close to Bend) in Redmond, is Seventh Street Brewery!! They are great and very welcoming of our dogs.
Jessica Rhae says
We went through Redmond on our way to Bend but didn’t stop. Good to know.
Bev Green says
What beautiful spots to eat and relax with the pups 🙂 now i’m hungry too!! Fozziemum
Kirby the Dorkie says
How awesome and can I just say how jealous I am! We have a hard time finding dog friendly in Mississippi which is sad. Great pics but I love the one of Gretel sleeping on the bricks – so content!
Chuck says
City of Bend is NOT dog friendly. $275 fine for off leash. Cannot take dog to ANY public outdoor events. Off leash parks are small, dusty, and disease infected. Cannot be off leash on trails in summer. People and businesses are dog friendly, city is dog hostile.
Jessica Rhae says
Yeah, I guess it all depends on what your definition of dog friendly is. To me, requiring dogs be leashed does not make a City UN dog friendly. Most cities I have visited have leash laws to keep dogs and people safe from other people, dogs and traffic. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a City that let dogs roam off leash.
Sorry to hear about the quality of the dog parks there. We have many here in Seattle but only a few are of great quality to me. I am glad to hear the people and business love dogs though. That was my experience there.
What City would you give “the most dog friendly” award to?
Mike says
It sounds like Chuck hasn’t yet visited the nearly 20 acre dog park in Pine Nursery Park. It’s a beautiful park with about 2/3rds of it being a natural area that looks like you’re in the middle of the wilderness and the rest is a large grass field for pooches that would rather run on grass. Our 14 year old golden gets so excited at this place – he looks like a puppy jumping over the rocks, racing around the trees, etc.
On the other hand, Bend recently decided to not allow off-leash dogs in Shevlin park, a 600 acre park just outside of town. We were very disappointed about this. Overall though, this is by far the most dog friendly place I’ve ever lived.
Jessica Rhae says
Hi Mike. Pine Nursery Park sounds great. We’ll have to check it out the next time we visit Bend. It’t too bad about Shelvin Park. With it being so big, you think their would be “room” for users of different interests and needs. I totally respect the need for leash laws though and don’t have a problem following the rules. It give ME more exercise that way because someone has to be on the other end of the leash 🙂