Do you love bringing your pup everywhere you go? Well, same.
As Kansas City locals with a lab-mix pup who has too much energy to be left at home for long, we have scouted out all the best dog-friendly restaurants and patios in town.
Fortunately, Kansas City loves pooches!
Because of health codes, animals cannot be inside spaces where food is served; however, many Kansas City restaurants will allow dogs on their patio. So, we’re sharing a complete list of the restaurants in the downtown and midtown neighborhoods that allow dogs.
Kansas City’s Best Dog-Friendly Restaurants
These are the local recommendations for where you can grab a bite with your pooch by your side!
1. Char Bar
Neighborhood: Westport
Cuisine: Barbecue
Pricing: $$
Char Bar is known for their southern-style offerings and award-winning smoked meats. Their menu is inventive, a contemporary take on traditional barbecue.
If the platters of perfectly smoked meats and hearty sides (hello, cheesy jalapeno corn) aren’t enough of a reason to visit, their house made sauces should do it for you.
Their sprawling patio bar is ideal for pups – it features picnic tables, patio games (bocce, cornhole), and green space. Of all the dog-friendly patios in town, this is our personal choice.
2. The Westside Local
Neighborhood: Westside
Cuisine: Farm-to-Table
Pricing: $$
Westside Local serves creative takes on farm-to-table cooking and craft cocktails in a quaint, exposed-brick space. For when you have your pup with you, their outdoor shaded beer garden is lovely. In the cooler months, they have heat lamps available for outdoor seating as long as it’s not too chilly.
In our experience, they brought our pup water and biscuits – how great is that?
3. Brewery Emperial
Neighborhood: Crossroads Arts District
Cuisine: Gastropub
Pricing: $$
Brewery Emperial is our choice when we’re wanting to sip on a locally brewed beer at a gastropub with our pup by our side.
Their spacious gravel outdoor beer garden is fenced and complete with picnic tables and firepits.
They brew great ales and lagers – the Biscuit Ale being a local favorite.
And you’ll want to arrive hungry because their gastro-pub inspired menu, featuring seasonally and locally sourced dishes, pairs perfectly with their beer selection.
4. La Bodega
Neighborhood: Crossroads Arts District
Cuisine: Spanish
Pricing: $$
We love La Bodega for their colorful, vibrant ambiance and their exceptional tapas selection – oh, and their carafes of sangria!
Although on the smaller side, they offer dog-friendly sidewalk seating. We recommend making a reservation as the patio tends to book up quickly.
5. Iron District
Neighborhood: North Kansas City
Cuisine: Food Hall
Pricing: $$
The Iron District in North Kansas City is an open-air food hall built out of repurposed shipping containers with vibrant colors and industrial charm.
They typically feature seven to nine concepts, each created by local chefs and ranging in cuisine type. While there are concepts that have stayed for several years, many concepts treat it as a startup opportunity and so the options cycle out each year, adding to the variety.
You order at the window of the shipping container, find an available picnic table, and wait for your order to be called. In the warmer months, they’ve been known to have live music.
The entire space is outdoors and welcoming to pups!
6. Aixois Bistro
Neighborhood: Crestwood, Brookside
Cuisine: French
Pricing: $$
Since it first opened its doors in 2001, Aixois Bistro has offered a classic, authentic French dining experience curated by its French native owner.
They are also known for their lovely outdoor patio, which allows pups and is heated and covered in the winter.
Notable about Aixois is its commitment to using organic, fresh, seasonal ingredients and locally sourced products in its French recipes.
7. Grünauer
Neighborhood: Crossroads Arts District
Cuisine: Austrian-German
Pricing: $$
Grünauer, a family-operated restaurant established in 2010, is an extension of the Grünauer family’s sixty-year legacy of running a traditional Viennese restaurant, Gasthaus Grünauer, in Austria’s capital.
From traditional Wiener Schnitzel to Sacher Torte, the dishes represent a culinary journey through Central Europe, primarily pulling from German and Austrian cuisine.
Although small, the outdoor patio is great for dining with your pooch.
8. Il Lazzarone
Neighborhood: River Market
Cuisine: Italian
Pricing: $$
Those with an appreciation for authentic Italian pizza should not miss out on Il Lazzarone. Located in the historic River Market district, this stylish, open-kitchen pizzeria showcases a traditional wood-fired oven imported from a Naples business that has been building them over four familial generations.
Certified by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana – one of only seventy-seven in the country, Il Lazzarone’s menu features a variety of authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas with thin, chewy crusts.
They use simple, quality ingredients, like their San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy where they are grown at the base of Mount Vesuvius.
The patio is a casual, dog-friendly space where you can enjoy the pizza along with a selection of Italian wines and beers.
9. Pigwich
Neighborhood: River Market
Cuisine: Sandwich Shop
Pricing: $
Pigwich specializes in handcrafted sandwiches made with locally-sourced ingredients. They have an adjoining butcher shop, Local Pig, so you know the quality is there. Don’t leave without purchasing a dog bone from the shop!
Pigwich is counter-order, so you’ll have to have at least two people where one can wait on the spacious wrap-around outdoor patio while the other orders.
10. Grinders
Neighborhood: Crossroads Arts District
Cuisine: American
Pricing: $$
Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Grinders is more than just a restaurant; it’s a culmination of food and art.
Grinders has garnered widespread recognition for its unique approach to the dining experience, blending elements of classic dive joints with a funky, lively atmosphere.
The spacious outdoor patio with picnic tables welcomes your pup.
11. The Farmhouse
Neighborhood: River Market
Cuisine: Farm-to-Table Brunch
Pricing: $$
We love Farmhouse for their farm-to-table, seasonal menu. They offer hearty dishes in a historic setting.
Their charming patio is dog-friendly, even in the winter when it is heated.
12. Cliff’s Taphouse
Neighborhood: Midtown
Cuisine: New American
Pricing: $$
Cliff’s is a community-centric restaurant – they frequently choose local charities to donate partial proceeds to.
They offer a menu with creative takes on the classics. Their shaded outdoor patio is ideal for dogs in the warmer months, and when we visited, they offered us a dog bowl.
13. Chicken & Pickle
Neighborhood: North Kansas City
Cuisine: Wood-Fired Chicken
Pricing: $$
Chicken & Pickle is a beloved spot with an expansive patio that features yard games and pickleball courts.