This summer has been a scorcher so far, and as of July 3, we’re now in the thick of the so-called “dog days” of the season. 

So what better way to celebrate the rising of Sirius A, the brightest star in our night sky and the reason for dog days, with a local guide to the bars, restaurants, breweries, hotels and coffee shops where you can bring your canine companions along? 

Arrive Hotel

From hotel guests to lobby lingerers, the Arrive Memphis is dog-friendly through and through. Arrive is a four-city hotel chain that proudly welcomes guests with dogs without a pet fee. 

In the mornings, visitors can expect to see pups hanging out while their humans enjoy coffee and pastries or sourdough toast from Vice & Virtue Coffee and Hustle & Dough. Vice & Virtue roasts their beans locally and is known for the Blue Note bourbon-barrel-aged beans that can be purchased by the bag. Rumor has it that Vice & Virtue also offers home-baked dog treats if you catch them in stock. 

Bar Hustle is open some evenings, welcoming visitors and their dogs for cocktails and savory snacks, notably a pizza that is made with Hustle & Dough sourdough crust.

Arrive Hotel, 477 S. Main St., Memphis; 901- 701-7575
Vice & Virtue + Hustle & Dough are open 7 a.m.-4 p.m., daily
Bar Hustle is open 4-10 p.m. Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays, and from 4 p.m.- midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

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BooYa’s 

BooYa’s is a fast-casual Tex-Mex meets burger joint in Collierville that is also one of the best dog-friendly spots in the suburb. 

BooYa’s is known locally for its patio, its local flavor and its sports bar atmosphere. The setup is similar to a Chipotle or other counter-service chains, but BooYa’s is locally owned and operated by Jay and Kim Kupiszewski. Customers come to the counter to select fresh ingredients for made-to-order burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadillas, burgers and salads. 

“We love dogs,” owner Jay Kupiszewski said when asked about their patio policy. However, pets must remain leashed while on the patio; and someone needs to stay outside with any pups while someone else from their party orders inside. 

BooYa’s 954 W. Poplar Ave., Collierville; 901-854-9466. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

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Brookhaven Pub & Grill

Located in the heart of East Memphis, Brookhaven Pub and Grill has a large outdoor patio that makes it possible for them to host crowds for sporting events, trivia nights and live music. 

It also allows them to easily accommodate four-legged friends. 

“We want as many puppies here as we can, all the time,” said general manager Katie Keough. As such, they provide water and dog bowls on the large adjacent covered and open patio, and on the new front patio area.

There is one caveat, though. When the sun goes down, the doggies need to head home. The restaurant asks that dogs are off the patio by 9 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, to keep everyone safe with large crowds and live music.

Brookhaven Pub & Grill 695 W. Brookhaven Circle, Memphis; 901-680-8118. Open 11 a.m.- 1 a.m. daily, though no dogs are allowed after 9 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays.

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Celtic Crossing

What makes Celtic Crossing stand out from the delightfully dog-friendly Cooper-Young restaurant scene? The large, covered patio.

Breezy in summer, insulated in winter, Celtic Crossing has made itself a comfortable spot for a furry friend to tag along for drinks, dinner, brunch or sports. 

Celtic Crossing is an Irish pub that stays true to its roots. The menu has a mix of Irish/British/American fusion dishes and pub classics, and they boast more than 70 scotches and whiskeys, and of course, Guinness. 

Expect live music on the patio during brunch most weekends, as well as frequent trivia nights and other special events. Insiders know that Celtic opens for special hours during the British Premier League season, showing soccer matches in the mornings on Saturday and Sunday. 

The patio has plenty of seating, making it a great place to settle in, hang with a pup, have a pint and enjoy Midtown. 

Celtic Crossing, 903 Cooper St., Memphis; 901-274-5151. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.-midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. on Sunday.

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The Cove

There are dog-friendly places, and then there are dog-friendly places. The Cove is one of the latter. 

Located along the Broad Avenue Arts District, this cozy, nautical-themed bar makes it easy for guests to drop in for a cocktail with a canine. Known for its large, almost exhaustive cocktail menu, plus oysters and other memorable dishes, The Cove also welcomes dog lovers at all hours of the day. 

According to owner Mary Tanner, it all started with a friend who was fostering a dog for a local rescue. Not wanting to leave the anxious pup at home, the friend would bring the foster dog with them to the bar, and that inspired other regulars to bring their dogs, as well. One thing led to another, and now there are daily bar dogs and doggy visitors of all kinds. 

Pre-pandemic, Tanner says that the bar held regular Sunday fundraisers for local animal rescue groups, and she hopes those will start again soon. For now, dogs can expect a treat, a bowl of water and a friendly greeting from The Cove.

The Cove, 2559 Broad Ave., Memphis; 901-730-0719. Open Sunday through Tuesday, and Thursday, 4 p.m.-1 a.m., Wednesday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., and Friday & Saturday 4 p.m.-2:30 a.m.

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Crosstown Concourse

They call it a mixed-use development, but what people don’t say often enough about Crosstown Concourse is that it’s one of the largest dog-friendly public spaces in the city. 

The list of pet amenities is long at Crosstown. The Parcels at Concourse apartments on the top floors are pet-friendly, and as such, the massive development includes a dog park in the back, with easy access to dog walking spaces for residents as well as visitors. 

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The inside of Concourse also hosts a variety of open seating where dogs and their owners can come to work, chat, relax and hang out in various comfortable corners. The building boasts 13 food and beverage spots, such as the adjacent Crosstown Brewing Co., Global Cafe, Abner’s Famous Chicken, and Sweet Magnolia’s Gelato, where guests can order and sit down with their dogs either outside or inside. 

Pro-tip, Mempops offers offers doggy “pupscicles” as a special treat for good pups. 

Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis; 901- 203-8300. The Concourse is open 6:30 a.m.-1 a.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and open 6:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. on Sunday. Specific business hours may vary.

Grind City Brewing Co. 

Offering much more than just beer, Grind City Brewing Co. tries to have a little bit of everything, including something for furry friends. 

“We like to think of ourselves as one of the most dog-friendly spaces in Memphis,” says Grind City’s events director Ian Betti.

Welcoming canines inside and outside all year round, the brewery will also hand out water bowls and treats for four-legged visitors. 

“There’s a huge community of dog owners in Memphis, and not a lot of places that allow them inside,” Betti said.

Grind City’s solution to (people) food was to skip an indoor kitchen in favor of food trucks. That way they can boost local business, offer their customers lots of variety and make everything extra dog accessible. 

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Last May, Grind City even partnered with local Instagram celebrity, Sir Meatball the English Bulldog, to host Dogchella, the name a nod to the Coachella music festival. Mary Lauren Bobango Stewart, Sir Meatball’s owner, hopes to make it an annual event for dog owners and lovers to celebrate with music and doggy dress-up at Grind City. 

Grind City Brewing Co. , 76 Waterworks Ave., Memphis; 901- 545-2337. Open 5-10 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon-8 p.m. on Sundays.

The Liquor Store and City & State

Though not at all interchangeable, The Liquor Store and City & State have a lot in common. 

For starters, they are both owned and run by partners Luis and Lisa Toro and they are located close to each other on Broad Avenue. Another thing they share is their pet-friendly patios, where dogs and their humans are encouraged to stop in and stay for a while. 

City & State is a coffee shop, offering specialty drinks and baked goods, with a boutique store attached to the shop. Outside, there is a large covered seating area where pups can lounge and drink from installed water bowls. 

The Liquor Store is a restaurant offering creative cocktails as well as breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner fare depending on the day. The outdoor patio is a recent addition. 

“Since we’re in the Broad Arts District, a lot of people will be taking their dogs on walks and loving all the boutique shops and all the other restaurants and everything,” said Liquor Store bar manager Taylor Carlile. “We’re a pretty little part of town, and we might as well offer them a place to sit and drink.”

However, he notes that the patio is sometimes closed when it’s extremely hot outside. 

City & State, 2625 Broad Ave., Memphis; 901- 249-2406. Open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sundays.

The Liquor Store 2655 Broad Ave., Memphis; 901- 405-5477
Open 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Sundays through Tuesdays.

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Meddlesome Brewing Co.

Meddlesome Brewing Company knows a thing or two about dogs. 

First, they are only two minutes away from the Shelby Farms Park’s dog unleashed area, making them a destination of choice for thirsty post-park pet parents. Second, they’re just down the street from the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County. 

Co-owner Richie EsQuivel said that Meddlesome hosted a special event to help support shelter animals in 2020. 

“We featured a couple of dogs and a cat that (the Humane Society) had for adoption; we prepaid for their adoption fees and then featured them on a beer label,” EsQuivel said. “We bottled the beers, named them after the animals that were up for adoption, and put their picture and their bio on the bottle.”

All the proceeds went to the Humane Society, he said. 

The event was also sponsored by Hollywood Feed, and EsQuivel hopes they can do the event again soon, possibly in the fall. Till then, guests are welcome to bring their own pets and hang out on the large back patio while sipping a beer or eating food from a rotation of local food trucks that frequent the brewery. 

Meddlesome Brewing, 7750 B Trinity Road, Suite 114, Cordova; 901- 207-1147. Open 4-10 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, noon.- 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon-7 p.m. on Sundays.

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Slider Inn

For those needing a place for dinner and a drink, and a place where they can bring kids and dogs, Slider Inn’s motto is to be family-friendly — and they think dogs absolutely count as family. 

Known for their Jameson slushies as well as sliders, wings, and lobster rolls, Slider Inn is popular with the crowd that knows how to sit, stay and roll over, as well. 

The Slider Inn patios are often full of people and dogs, no matter the season, as the popular establishments use heaters in the winter and misters in the summer to keep guests comfortable. 

Local dog owner and rescue volunteer Kelsee McKim Carr said that Slider Inn is one of her favorite places to relax with her dogs.

“Both their Midtown and Downtown locations are fantastic dog-friendly spots,” Carr said. “The staff is always sure to bring the pups water, and the outdoor space is nice, too. Plus, who doesn’t like a Jameson slushie?”

Tara Shepard, general manager at Slider Inn’s Midtown location, confirms that they treat dogs as guests, too, with water bowls and “homemade dog biscuits, made every day.” 

Dog owners are encouraged to bring their pets to the Midtown location’s large, partially-covered patio or Downtown’s back patio. The front yard space along South Main Street is currently undergoing construction updates but should be open, and dog-friendly, soon. 

Slider Inn 2117 Peabody Ave., Memphis; 901- 725-1155
363 Mulberry St., Memphis; 901- 729-6900
Peabody Avenue location is open 11-1 a.m. daily, and the Mulberry Street location Downtown is open 11 a.m-10 p.m., Sundays through Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11 a.m.-midnight Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.