Whether you’re cruising the coast, heading to the high country or just passing through, having these chow-friendly rest stops book-marked into your GPS can come in handy.
Just off the Highway 50 corridor in Placerville, for example, Sweetie Pie’s Restaurant and Bakery is a breakfast and lunch gathering place for “dog people” who like a little bit of coffee with their newspapers and, often, a little bit of conversation with their turkey melts.
In Berkeley, the Missouri Lounge might best be classified as a dog-friendly dive bar: Think pool tables inside, heated patio tables outside and a menu heavy on chili and such.
You can’t get a better combo of local color and dogginess than the Sit & Stay Café adjacent to Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond. Pull up to a picnic table, sip your latte and watch four-leggers of every stripe run and play at one of the region’s premier leash-free open spaces. If mud is an issue, you can deal with it right then and there at MudPuppy’s Tub & Scrub, where you dirty pooch will emerge smelling fresh as a daisy and showing off her brightest colors and whitest whites.
