Dog-friendly restaurants? These spots in North Carolina rank among the nation’s best

Simone Jasper
·2 min read

North Carolina is home to five of the nation’s most dog-friendly restaurants — so bring your furry friend, new rankings show.

Sunny Point Cafe in Asheville ranks No. 10 on a national list of the “Top 100 Dog-Friendly Places to Eat.” And several other restaurants in the state weren’t far behind on the list from the restaurant review website Yelp:

To create the list of “top places to dine with your dog,” Yelp said it searched reviews that customers left across the United States.

“We identified businesses in the restaurants and food categories with a large concentration of review mentioning ‘dog friendly,’ then ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning those keywords between June 1, 2020 and June 1, 2023,” the website wrote in an Aug. 10 report.

What makes the restaurants special?

Sunny Point Cafe, the only place in North Carolina to rank in the top 10, received praise on Yelp for having a scenic garden and pup-friendly environment.

The restaurant on its website said it allows pets on its patio and serves “upscale comfort food” to their owners. Those dishes earned the cafe past recognition when it ranked as one of the nation’s favorite places to go for brunch, McClatchy News reported.

Also in the western part of the state, Hillman Beer, Funkatorium at Wicked Weed, and Boojum Brewing received wide praise. Several pet owners took to Yelp to praise the brew pubs for providing touches such as outdoor seating or water bowls for their dogs.

Rounding out the list was another spot that serves beer and food. Brewers at 4001 Yancey in Charlotte received nods for having a welcoming outdoor space that fans can’t wait to visit with their dogs.

North Carolina has made its mark as a top destination for pet lovers this year. In June, Raleigh was named one of the best places in the country to have a pet, based on access to parks, vet care and other perks, McClatchy News reported.

This time around, Yelp said the No. 1 most dog-friendly restaurant was the Tin Shed Garden Cafe in Portland, Oregon. The list was published as the website reports “searches for businesses using the ‘dogs allowed’ filter on Yelp have jumped 58% over the past two years.”

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