Our four-legged family members love a good Saturday outing as much as the rest of the family. Fortunately, Cary (and the surrounding areas) have plenty of fun dog-friendly weekend activities, restaurants, and breweries. Whether you’re looking for donuts and coffee on a beautiful outdoor deck, or want to spend your afternoon hiking on Cary’s best trails, we’ve explored the best dog-friendly places the city has to offer!
Dog-Friendly Breakfast & Brunch in Cary
La Farm Bakery
Start your weekend right – with brunch for you and your pup! La Farm Bakery is an authentic French bakery, crafting incredible pastries, homemade bread, and hearty sandwiches. With flavorful coffee options and sweet, sticky dessert breads, it’s a perfect place for breakfast or lunch. Their outdoor seating is comfortable and dog-friendly, and you can share a nibble of your sandwich deli meat with your hungry pup. Doggy brunch date!
Duck Donuts
If donuts and iced lattes are more your speed, Duck Donuts offers a wide variety of flavors. You can even eat a breakfast sandwich–with eggs, cheese, and bacon–on a glazed donut bun!
Duck Donuts allows you to create-your-own flavor, using any of dozens of syrups, drizzles, and toppings. The donut topping of choice for local dogs? Bacon!
Sipping an iced latte on a warm spring morning, sitting on their outdoor, shaded deck with your best doggo at your feet — feels like the start to a great weekend!
Starbucks
My dog knows the word “Puppuccino.” It means we’re going to Starbucks for one of her favorite treats.
For a short and easy outing your dog will love, the drive-thru at Starbucks is a quick way to get yourself a treat — and one for your pup, too! My dog loves simple things like car-car rides with the windows down, the music up, and an all-whipped cream treat in her paws.
Dog-Friendly Hiking, Parks, & Outdoors in Cary
Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve
After brunch and coffee, it’s time to take a stroll and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Hemlock Bluffs Nature Park is one of Cary’s hidden gems — with scenic bluffs and overlooks, easy hiking trails, and colorful flowers and butterflies. There are plenty of places for picnics, so bring a snack for you and your pup!
Whether it’s just you and fido, or whether you have a large family with kids, this is a great way to burn some energy and get some fresh air! Be sure to keep your pup on-leash for their safety, and enjoy the miles of winding trails.
Fred G. Bond Metro Park
With over 300 acres of trails, fields, and lakes, Bond Park is a great place to spend a day with dogs and kids alike!
Spread a picnic blanket on the rolling green field or take a hike through the shady woods. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, there’s also a boathouse for renting canoes, and an obstacle ropes-course for climbing.
North Carolina Museum of Art
While the North Carolina Museum of Art is technically in Raleigh, it’s just a hop-skip-jump away from Cary, and it’s well worth mentioning. The outdoor trails and exhibits are a fun and educational way to spend an afternoon with your dogs and kids.
The outdoor exhibits are completely free and dog-friendly. The museum’s outdoor space offers playground equipment for climbing, fields for running, and unique labyrinths, puzzles, and mazes. There are interactive exhibits, and a ton of interesting places to pose for photo opportunities with your pup!
While you’re there, follow the trail into the woods and visit Raleigh’s “hidden Hobbit house,” just one of the 40 outdoor exhibits that can be seen during a leisurely stroll with your kids and pups.
Dog-Friendly Restaurants in Cary
Doherty’s Irish Pub & Restaurant
After all that hiking, you and your doggo are bound to be hungry! Doherty’s offers traditional Irish fare, such as bangers and mash, beer cheese soup, and corned beef and cabbage. While your pup may enjoy a bite of corned beef, Doherty’s also offers vegetarian options and a variety of stouts and ales on draught.
Their outside patio is dog-friendly, so it’s a great place for families, kids, or a dog-friendly double date!
Woody’s Sports Tavern and Grill
Wings. Brews. Dogs. Need we say more?
Woody’s Sports Tavern and Grill offers traditional deep-fried bar foods, like tater tots and cheese, hot and sweet wings, and pork skins with pimento cheese. However, their menu also offers a taste of non-traditional bar food — like Mexican Street Corn and their famous “Soul Rolls.” As seen at the State Fair, their Soul Rolls are house-made eggrolls, with flavors like Philly Cheese Steak and Bacon Cheeseburger.
If you want to share a burger with your best furry-friend on an outdoor patio, Woody’s Sports Tavern and Grill is the place!
Dog-Friendly Breweries & Bars in Cary
Chatham Hill Winery
If you enjoy relaxing wine tastings and wine samplers, you and your pup will enjoy this beautiful “urban winery in the heart of North Carolina.” Chatham Hill Winery has a charming outdoor deck and mini-vineyard, where patrons and pups can enjoy a glass of wine on a Spring afternoon.
On Friday nights, Chatham Hill Winery is a local hotspot, with craft beer, live music, and food trucks.
Whether you’re looking for a relaxing afternoon with a glass of wine, or a fun evening with music and food — you and your pup can enjoy the weekend together!
Fortnight Brewing Company
Fortnight Brewing Company is more than just dog-friendly; they go out of their way to support local animal shelters and help homeless pups find their forever homes! Plus, they have great beer!
Fortnight is known for their unique tastes — coffee flavors like Coffee Amber Ale and English Breakfast Stout, or Kombucha beers like Lucid Dreamer. They also have an award-winning Carolina Amber and Pendragon Porter.
Dogs are welcome during Yappy Hour, which is the second Tuesday of each month from 6-8pm. Typically, Mayfair Animal Hospital is on-site to offer free advice and answer questions about doggy health. Plus, there’s always a food truck for humans, and a food truck for dogs, too! The Just 4 Dogs Treat Truck is on-site to feed happy pups at this dog-friendly event.
Fortnight hosts regular fundraisers and adoption events for local rescues. Saturday, March 16th from 11am-2pm, they are hosting a BFPA adoption event, with 2-3 dogs available for adoption.
Bond Brothers Beer Company
With wild flavors like Blueberry Lemon Sorcery, Boysenberry Grapefruit Sorcery, and Sugar and Spice, Bond Brothers Beer Company is a great location for a crisp brew on a warm spring or summer night. Their spacious outdoor seating allows room for dogs and friends, so you can bring your whole crew (and all their dogs, too)!
Bond Brothers hosts a different food truck almost every night, so it’s a fun place to get dinner, and have something different each time. They also host unique events, like Yoga and Beer, or Zumba-thons. So whether you want food, drink, or exercise — you can do it all, and bring your pup along for the ride!
