The Best Dog-Friendly Restaurants & Patios in Palm Springs

Palm Springs is a dog town in a way that goes past marketing. There are more dogs than children here by a comfortable margin, the winter weather is built for eating outside, and the restaurant stock is mostly low-slung mid-century buildings with patios attached. The result is a city where bringing your dog to lunch is normal rather than a negotiation.

That said, "dog-friendly" gets used loosely, and the difference between a patio that tolerates dogs and one that expects them is the difference between a relaxed hour and forty minutes of apologising. Here's the honest map.

What California Law Actually Allows

Worth understanding before you go, because it explains the patterns you'll see.

California Health and Safety Code section 114259.5 — passed as AB 1965 in 2014, in force since 1 January 2015 — lets restaurants allow pet dogs in outdoor dining areas only. It is permissive, not mandatory: no restaurant has to say yes, and plenty don't.

The conditions are specific and they shape the patios you'll encounter:

• Your dog must reach the patio without passing through the interior or any food-prep area. This is why some restaurants with lovely courtyards still say no — there's no separate outdoor entrance.
• No food prep or utensil storage happens in the dog-accessible area.
• Anything served to a dog comes in a single-use disposable container.
• Staff may not touch your dog while working, and must wash up if they do.
• Dogs stay leashed or in a carrier, under your control, on the ground — not on chairs, benches, or seats.

Local ordinances can add to this. Service animals are governed separately and go anywhere you go.

Dog-Friendly Breakfast Spots

Mornings are the best time to do this, especially between May and October, when the pavement stops being survivable by about ten o'clock.

Cheeky's, 622 N Palm Canyon Drive, is the marquee name and the one people ask about. Dogs are welcome on the shaded patio, the food is genuinely worth the fuss, and there are no reservations — it is first come, first served and the queue is the most notorious in town. Open 8am to 2pm, closed Tuesdays. Come at opening or come on a weekday.

Koffi North, 515 N Palm Canyon Drive, is the better call if you want to actually relax. Big patio, a lot of shade, extremely dog-friendly by reputation, open 6:30am to 5:30pm daily. This is where locals with dogs go on a Saturday when they can't face Cheeky's.

Ernest Coffee, 1101 N Palm Canyon Drive, takes dogs on the patio provided they're well behaved and not barking. Open 6am to 1:30pm. Worth knowing that this is the same building as Bootlegger Tiki, which takes over from 5pm — so the address is a dog-friendly morning and a very not-dog-friendly night.

Restaurants With Water Bowls

Water without being asked is the real tell. These are the ones we've confirmed do it:

• Sherman's Deli & Bakery, 401 E Tahquitz Canyon Way — large patio, dogs are greeted with water on arrival.
• Grand Central, 160 La Plaza — shaded patio, bowl provided, several canine regulars.
• Jake's, 664 N Palm Canyon Drive — named after the owners' dog. Water and a biscuit.
• Bongo Johnny's, 214 E Arenas Road — runs a "Woof!" menu of actual dog food and treats.

And the outlier: Boozehounds, 2080 N Palm Canyon Drive, which was designed around dogs from the ground up — an open-air atrium, a cabana bar, and a menu that's good enough to have picked up Michelin attention on its own merits. If you're travelling with a dog and only doing one dinner, do this one.

Downtown Dog-Friendly Dining

Within the walkable downtown core:

LuLu California Bistro, 200 S Palm Canyon Drive, has the biggest and most visible patio on the main drag. It's loud, it's busy, the menu is enormous, and your dog will be greeted by roughly forty strangers. Some dogs love this. Know yours.

Tyler's Burgers, 149 S Indian Canyon Drive in La Plaza, is the counterweight — a cash-friendly burger institution where most of the seating is outdoors anyway and the covered section takes dogs. Open 11am to 4pm, Monday through Saturday. Expect a line at noon.

Trio, 707 N Palm Canyon Drive, takes dogs on its side patio specifically, which is worth saying when you arrive. Rick's, 1973 N Palm Canyon Drive, has the easiest parking of any of these and a diner menu that suits a long dog walk beforehand. Farm at 6 La Plaza and Pinocchio in the Desert on North Palm Canyon both work too.

Dog-Friendly Happy Hours

Palm Springs happy hours start absurdly early — many at 2 or 3pm — which is exactly when it becomes bearable to sit outside again in shoulder season.

Boozehounds is the obvious answer and the only place in the valley where the dog is arguably the target customer. LuLu runs a long daily happy hour on that big patio. Bongo Johnny's on Arenas puts your dog on the menu, in the good way. Spencer's, 701 W Baristo Road, is the upmarket version — the patio sits under enormous ficus trees, it's one of the prettiest rooms in town, and it too is named after a dog.

A Note on Great Shakes

Great Shakes, 160 S Palm Canyon Drive, is the downtown institution for date shakes — every one served with a warm mini donut threaded onto the straw, baked in house. The Date Walnut is the order. It's a walk-up counter with street-front seating rather than a restaurant with a patio, and in practice you'll see dogs waiting outside with people constantly.

We're not going to tell you it's officially dog-friendly, though, because it isn't listed as such anywhere and we couldn't get it confirmed. Treat it as a stop on a walk rather than a place to sit down with a dog, and ask at the window.

Where to Walk It Off

Two proper dog parks, both fenced, both with separate small-dog areas.

David H. Ready Palm Springs Dog Park, 222 N Civic Drive behind City Hall, is 1.6 acres of rolling grass with shade structures, solar lighting, dual-height drinking fountains, and picnic tables. Open daily 6am to dusk. The solar lighting matters in summer — it makes an 8pm visit workable.

Demuth Park Dog Park on East Mesquite Avenue has a wide grass expanse for large dogs plus a separate fenced small-dog section, recently renovated with new shade and fencing. Open dawn to dusk. The mix of grass and decomposed granite drains well, so it doesn't turn to mud after winter rain.