The best pet and dog-friendly places in Boston

Not only can your furry friend enjoy a water bowl on the patio at OAK Long Bar + Kitchen, the restaurant at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. They can also take full advantage of the historically dog-friendly hotel’s hospitality with the “furiend” package. 

This Everett venue became New England’s first indoor dog park and bar when it opened in 2023, with on- and off-leash areas inside the 10,000-square food venue and outdoors. The clean area is managed by dog professionals (it even offers doggy daycare) with rules around safe play. Memberships are available for frequent visitors, or you can register onsite for a doggy day pass with a drop-in fee. Humans are always free. Through October 31, 2024, Park-9 is also popping up in the Fenway neighborhood with an outdoor bar and dog park offering free food delivery from Time Out Market.

It’s only fitting that the seeming living room of Jamaica Plain—the Brendan Behan Pub—invites dogs to enjoy its streetside patio. The neighborhood is extremely dog-friendly.

While its Somerville taproom is for humans only, Aeronaut Brewing Company welcomes dogs at Aeronaut Allston, Boston’s original pop-up beer garden. Along with a selection of brews, live music and local food trucks set up on site every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through September 14, there are plenty of dog treats to go around. There’s also a Wall of Woof at the Western Avenue lot featuring photos of some cute past patrons.

One of Boston’s best sushi restaurants happens to be located at a dog-friendly hotel. Not only can you book a dog-friendly staycation at the Eliot, but you can also bring your dog to the ground-floor restaurant, Uni, for a meal on the Comm. Ave. patio.

With an evolving lineup of exciting small businesses, Bow Market is an awesome amenity in Somerville. And all of its outdoor areas are dog-friendly, from the main courtyard to the patios of Remnant Brewing and Rebel Rebel Wine Bar.

For more than 30 years, CBC has served up some of the best beers in the Boston area along with local-focused pub grub. The Kendall Square brewery also has an excellent patio that’s long welcomed dogs. This fall is CBC’s last call, so bring your pug by the pub while you can.

This South Boston spot is a go-to gathering place for the neighborhood—and that includes its many dogs. The Broadway has a dog-friendly patio in Southie. 

A historic property in Brighton, the Charles River Speedway is home to several small businesses centered on a dog-friendly courtyard. All outdoor areas are dog-friendly, from the beer garden at Notch Brewing to the small but lively patios outside The Koji Club, Super Bien, Rite Tea & Espresso Bar and Birds of Paradise cocktail bar.  

At the pet-friendly Colonnade Hotel, the ground-floor restaurant Lucie Drink & Dine serves up a global array of appetizing eats including pizzas, pastas and a lively brunch menu. The outdoor patio has a prime location in Back Bay and is welcoming to pets.

Dine with your pup at Dovetail in the picturesque Charlestown Navy Yard. The quiet, cobblestone walkway between historic buildings has a few outdoor tables and string lights, with a designated dog-friendly section. It’s open on a walk-in basis for lunch and dinner daily, with a wide-ranging menu bistro from the team behind Brewer’s Fork.

With an umbrella-shaded patio overlooking Copley Place and Back Bay Station, the Salty Pig is a perfect spot for after-work drinks and snacks with your crew and a dog or two. 

With a harborside patio overlooking the Zakim Bridge and TD Garden, Alcove is an outdoor sanctuary for humans and dogs alike. The former can tuck into New England-inspired cuisine and an awarded wine list, while pets will enjoy complimentary bowls of water.

This Kendall Square bar is a neighborhood mainstay known for beer-and-shot combos, hot chicken sandwiches, awesome desserts, and the always-dog-friendly State Park patio.

If you follow Moonshine 152 chef-owner Asia Mei on Instagram, you know she’s a huge dog lover. So it makes sense that her welcoming South Boston eatery is a big fan of pups: The well-landscaped outdoor dining area is dog-friendly.

Before this Dot spot becomes a gay club after dark, it’s a neighborhood dining spot with an area of its outdoor patio that’s dog-friendly.

The ground-level patio at this Dot fave is dog-friendly seven days a week, but Dorchester Brewing Co. doubles down with dog-specific events like “yappy hours” with pet photos, an annual Dogtoberfest and more.

If your dog is accompanying you along the Freedom Trail, you can both take a break at this classic watering hole. The Bell in Hand’s patio on historic Union Street welcomes pets.

Located in Malden Center, Idle Hands has one of the most diverse beer lists of all Boston-area breweries and hosts frwquet food pop-ups. The low-key beer garden outside is also always welcoming to dogs.

This local beverage company has grown over the years and includes a couple seasonal beer gardens. Night Shift headquarters in Everett has long had a dog-friendly patio; and now the seasonal outdoor beer gardens along the Esplanade, in Allston’s Herter Park and at Dewey Square on the Greenway are also for the dogs.

If your dog is in tow at Bully Boy, head to the outdoor “cocktail garden” across the street from the beautiful bar hidden inside Boston’s first craft distillery. The summer-seasonal, outdoor pop-up with rotating frozen drinks and vacation vibes is dog-friendly.

The parking lot-side patio of Long Live Roxbury is welcoming to all manner of furry friends and their humans.

For the morning walk, at mid-day, or in the evening, lead your furry friend to Shy Bird in South Boston. The all-day cafe and rotisserie restaurant serves up espresso drinks, fried chicken sandwiches, and wine bar-worthy plates on its dog-friendly patio.

This East Boston bar is known for loaded hot dogs. It’s also where hot dogs can take a load off—that is, tired pups seeking dog-friendly refuge in the form of an outdoor patio.

Dogs are welcome at both locations of Castle Island Brewing Co. during patio season. The South Boston taproom has a lively patio on the corner, while the Norwood HQ is more kid-friendly, too. Both locations feature plenty on tap plus a full-service menu by Bardo’s Bar Pizza.

An eclectic eatery and beer bar in Beacon Hill, the Tip Tap Room has a seasonal, outdoor patio around the side of the place on Temple Street that’s dog-friendly.

All the Boston proper locations of beloved brewery Trillium offer dog-friendly options. (If you plan to visit the Canton location, you should leave your pets at home.) Expect to see a lot of pups and pints at the beer garden on the Greenway, as well as on the patios of the Fort Point and Fenway-area taprooms.

Bright yellow tables and a container bar bedecked with florals and string lights surround the South End location of Yellow Door Taqueria. You might also spot a dog or a few out on the patio, because they’re welcome here. Bring them by for Shuck It Sundays, where you—the human—can enjoy $1 oysters all night.