Milwaukee-area restaurants offer pet-friendly menus with special treats for dogs

With patio season upon us, Milwaukee’s restaurants and bars offer expanded seating and al fresco fun — for people and their pets.

When you’re headed to any of the many dog-friendly bars and restaurants in Milwaukee, rather than sneaking Spot a bite of your chicken taco or lick from your ice cream bowl, why not head to a restaurant that serves dishes made just for your dog?

This summer, Benson’s Restaurant Group will offer healthy, pup-happy menus at all six of its Milwaukee-area restaurants: AJ Bombers, Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria, The Bridgewater Modern Grill, The Edison, Onesto and Smoke Shack.

“Each of our restaurants features amazing patios that are dog-friendly, and we wanted to enhance that experience for pups and owners alike by curating these fido-focused menus,” Benson’s Restaurant Group Corporate Executive Chef Alex Sazama said in a statement. “We cannot wait for wagging tails and joyful memories to fill our patios this summer.”

You can find the new menu items below, plus more Milwaukee restaurants that let your dog woof it up as they wolf down tasty treats made just for them.

Just remember that pets are not allowed inside restaurants, and all good boys and girls should stick to the patio as the dine out for the day.

The Bridgewater Modern Grill

2011 S. First St.

Home to the longest riverfront patio in Milwaukee, the Bridgewater has plenty of outdoor space for pups and people to dine and drink along the water this summer. As you feast on lobster rolls, baby back ribs and scallops, your four-legged friends can eat from a dog-friendly menu that includes grilled chicken, grilled veggies and scrambled eggs with rice. There’s even a fresh fruit parfait made just for dogs that like to end their meal on a sweet note just as their humans do.

Paloma Taco & Tequila

5419 W. North Ave; 2156 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

This lively taco spot has been dog-friendly since it opened its first location on Milwaukee’s west side in 2020. Now, both its original spot and new Bay View location are hound havens. While you’re gorging on a giant burrito, treat your pooch to The Fat Puppy, a barely-warm flour tortilla with fresh banana and crunchy peanut butter. And just like you wouldn’t pass up a margarita, your dog will lap up the Barkarita — a savory broth served in a peanut butter-rimmed cup — just as quickly.

Smoke Shack

332 N. Milwaukee St.

It's the cutest happy hour ever at this barbecue joint with deals for diners and their dogs. Every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m., stop in for Pups & Pints happy hours, with $2 off tap beers, $7 cocktails and barbecue snacks. Bring your pooch for chicken-veggie patties or a sweet treat of sweat potato-peanut butter doggy cookies or frozen yogurt treats (available outside of happy hour, too!).

Riley’s Social House & Sandwich Co.

411 E. Menomonee St.

A super-smiley dog is the face (and namesake) of this pup-ular sandwich shop and bar known for its canine inclusivity. At its Third Ward location, the shop serves up two of Riley’s top noshes: Riley’s pumpkin and peanut butter frozen treat and “Riley’s Fave,” a cup of organic chicken mixed with sous-vide veggies.

The Edison

322 N. Broadway

From under a shaded awning on Broadway, dogs can indulge just as their humans do at this new-ish Third Ward dining spot. The Edison’s fido-friendly menu includes grilled skirt steak potatoes and beef fat potatoes, or, if you dog is feeling like a lighter dish, a salad with grilled salmon and charred cabbage.

Onesto

221 N. Broadway

Even dogs can’t resist Italian flavors, so while you’re chowing on carbonara and feasting on fusilli, order some beef zucchini meatballs with a hint of turmeric or a chicken casserole stuffed with corn, zucchini, peas, potatoes and apple. Good boys get dessert, too, in the form of Vitolato, featuring Baron’s Gelato peanut butter-and-banana sorbet.

Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria

249 N. Water St.

Another riverside spot that Spot will love, this Third Ward taco joint offers plenty for pups to nosh on, too, like a 5-ounce burger patty, chicken and veggies or a sweet Greek yogurt dish with berries and honey.

AJ Bombers

1247 N. Water St.

Dogs love comfort food, too, so toss them some Bomber Bites — a burger blend covered in cheese and wrapped in bacon — or a grilled cheese on panini bread and watch their tails wag away. And what’s more comforting than custard? AJ Bombers’ Pup Cup features a scoop of vanilla custard that pairs perfectly with the patio.

Salty Paws

121 N. Jefferson St.

This is the one spot on this list where humans might feel a little excluded. Salty Paws is Milwaukee’s first ice cream bar and bakery with sweets made just for dogs. The store looks just like a regular scoop shop, except it’s stocked with lactose-free ice cream in flavors like maple-bacon, pumpkin and blueberry-peanut butter. Toppings like dehydrated chicken or turkey and dog-friendly cookies can be added, as well. Or let Chance choose from any of Salty Paws’ specialty cookies, doughnuts and cakes with adorable designs.

Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. She’s been busy exploring the Milwaukee area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.

What should she cover next? Contact her at rseis@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rachelbernhard or on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee-area restaurants offer dog-friendly menus