We are on a mission to find all the cool, hip, hidden & popular spots around Los Angeles that are dog friendly AND serve good wine!
“Good” can be subjective when it comes to wine, yes. For us, good wine is wine that was made with minimal intervention, minimal or no artificial additives, zero pesticides, no added sugar….you get it. No nasties, only fermented grape juice. We’ll be updating this list as we explore more dog friendly patios around LA, and would love your recommendations!
Westside:
ESTERS
Esters is an iconic wine bar & shop in Santa Monica, with a full food menu, and a good happy hour. (TUE-SAT 3-6PM and MON-all day).
Their wine selection is wide, and extremely well curated, focusing on smaller producers as well as high-end finds.
Esters’ by the glass wine list changes regularly, but usually features at least one biodynamic producer, with plenty of organic wine options on their by the bottle list. The patio isn’t big, but it’s charming, and centrally located if you’re in Santa Monica. We love their weekend events, featuring different winemakers, importers and guest chefs. Please note: Unfortunately, Esters is only dog-friendly in the summer months. In colder (whatever, California) months, they put up a vinyl patio cover, thereby rendering the patio not dog friendly. If you’re planning a visit between October and April, we suggest you call ahead.
PLANT FOOD + WINE
Can we eat (and drink) here every day, please? PF+W is a vegan restaurant on the trendy Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice, but you definitely don’t have to be vegan to love this place. Although the portions aren’t large, all of the dishes are fresh, full of flavor, and are designed to be shared. Their very dog friendly - and huge - patio looks like an Italian Mediterranean garden, with massive olive trees supplying shade and charm. Two resident kittens do run the place, so if your dog is not feline-it (get it?), you may want to opt for another restaurant. Reservations are highly recommended during busy hours. PF + W has one of the best wine lists around. Not only are all the wines vegan, many of them are local, and 100% natural, with unique flavor profiles! Our recommendations: Everything. Especially anything from Lo-Fi or Swick.
CASSIA
Cassia is one of our favorite restaurants in LA, and is conveniently (and literally) connected to Esters, so you can have a drink at the Esters bar while you wait for your table. Cassia offers vibrant flavors of Southeast Asia (hello Laksa and Seafood Platter) and has an enviably large patio, popular with dogs and their pawrents. Their wine is curated by the sommeliers of Esters (we think?) and the selection is extremely diverse. Our recommendations:
- Arnot-Roberts Touriga Nacional | Clear Lake, California | 2018
- Skerlj Vitovska | Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy | 2015
- Moric Super Natural Grüner Veltliner/Chardonnay | Burgenland, Austria | 2017
- Bichi 'No Sapiens' Red Blend Tecate | Baja California, Mexico | 2017
ROSE CAFÉ
We dedicated an entire blog post to the famous Rose Cafe, which we highly recommend for a weekend brunch! Reservations strongly recommended, as the place get very busy! (Even Gordon Ramsay brunches there!)
ASHLAND HILL
We like going to Ashland Hill for several reasons: their cozy patio, their excellent happy a.k.a. “social” hour on weekdays, and their crispy roasted brussels sprouts. You can read our review of Ashland Hill here.
FIG
FIG Santa Monica has one of the best patios AND one of the best happy hours in LA. Entrance to Fig is through the dog friendly Fairmont Miramar Hotel (101 Wilshire Blvd), either from Ocean Avenue or from 2nd Street.
Fig accepts reservations for happy hour, which is great, as the dog friendly patio only has a few tables.
Silver Lake & Nearby
SALAZAR
Just do it. Just go there, and order the whole branzino, tacos, a spiked agua fresca, a salad…and bring friends! And tell friends to bring their dogs too, because the patio is big enough for everyone. Seriously.
Wherever you live, make the (short or long) trip to Salazar - you won’t regret it.
We were there for dinner and brought our own wine (Ambyth estate Grenache FTW) for a $20 corkage fee, but there’s plenty to choose from in this category too. Can’t wait to go back for brunch!
BARBRIX
A charming patio, with an ever changing wine and food selection. We had a lovely grilled octopus and a Gruener Veltliner, and really need to try their famous oysters next time!
Note: Happy hour is only at the indoors bar, which is not dog friendly.