Park Bench Café: Make it a dog day afternoon at Huntington Dog Beach & Park Bench Cafe

Since 1988, the Park Bench Café has done a brisk breakfast and lunch business, and has established itself as one of the most pet-friendly restaurants in southern California. In fact, the owners, Mike and Christie Bartusick, routinely host meetings for pet rescue groups on a monthly basis, as well as providing a venue for fundraisers for them. Because of its great location in Huntington Beach’s Central Park, most of this restaurant’s dining area is outdoors, making it especially conducive for people and their dogs to dine together. To enjoy a day-long outing with your dog, you’ll also want to visit nearby Huntington Dog Beach, a mile-long stretch of beach where you can bring your dog to frolic in the sand and surf.

On the menu: For lunch I’ve enjoyed the chili bowl, which is made homemade daily. I also like their half salad & soup combo on the Lite Lunch menu. Park Bench also boasts an array of hamburgers, and any style burger can be prepared as a veggie garden burger. For breakfast, I suggest ordering one of Park Bench’s generous breakfast burritos, such as the Park Burrito, made with bacon, chopped mushrooms, onions, scrambled eggs and melted cheese. Yum!

For the pooch: Park Bench Café has a complete “Canine Cuisine” menu, including Rover Easy (two scrambled eggs), peanut butter cookies, and Hound Dog Heaven (juicy ground beef). Canine Epicurean Chiquita recommends Bow Wow Wow, a generous helping of sliced-up chicken breast.

The Park Bench Café • 11732 Golden West St., Huntington Beach, CA 92647 • (714) 842-0775

Corkscrew Café: Classic California Wine & Food in Carmel Valley

This lovely restaurant boasts an early Monterey and Mission ambiance in both its interior décor and expansive, shady outdoor patio. We have always found Carmel to be one of the pet-friendliest towns in California, so on any given day or evening, you’re likely to find any number of dogs with diners on Corkscrew Café’s patio.

For you: This restaurant has its own organic garden, where herbs and seasonal produce are grown for use in Corkscrew Café’s fresh menu items. For lunch, my husband highly recommends the tasty Shrimp Chile Rellenos. At dinnertime, the Wood Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomato wood-fired pizza is a good choice for sharing, perhaps with a salad and a great glass of wine from one of the many local Carmel Valley wineries.

For the pooch: Dogs will enjoy lots of shade and a very pet-friendly staff, who will often bring a colorful ceramic water bowl out for the pooch before taking your order.

Corkscrew Café • 55 West Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel Valley, CA 93921 • (831) 659-8888

 

Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion: Aloha spirit & pet-friendly dining in Pasadena

K9 Epicurean

Your Guide to Pet-Friendly Dining

During a trip to the islands a few years ago, we dined at Roy’s on the island of Maui, which is located in a small strip mall and is a somewhat smaller version of the lavish restaurant chain that has cropped up all over the islands, the mainland, Japan and Guam. Each location has its own individual menu, although all chefs have been trained in the Roy Yamaguchi method (the original Roy, who was trained at the Culinary Institute of  America).

Highly recommended fare: We have enjoyed the Canoe Appetizer for Two, which is a meal in itself with a combination of grilled szechuan pork ribs, blackened ahi, lobster potstickers, tuna rolls and shrimp sticks. Roy’s Roasted Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi is very tender and will give you a real taste of authentic Hawaiian fare.

For the pooch: At its Pasadena, California location, well-behaved dogs are welcome to join you on the dining patio in front of the restaurant. (You may want to call other Roy’s restaurants to find out about their individual pet policies.)

Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion • 641 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101 • (626) 356-4066