Where to Drink Beer with Your Dog in Charlotte
These watering holes invite owners to lap up local suds with their pups in tow.
by Lauren Levine Corriher Sep 20, 2023
There’s nothing worse than watching your furry best friend longingly press their snout against the window as you depart for a day spent enjoying Charlotte’s booming beer scene. While North Carolina law prevents you from bringing your dog inside some of your favorite spots, four-legged friends are still welcome to join in on these patio spaces and dog-friendly places around town.
Birdsong Brewing Co.
Neighborhood: Optimist Park
Birdsong Brewing Co. has a spacious outdoor area that offers a shaded patio complete with fans, which comes in handy during Charlotte’s ultra-hot summer months. Your pup is more than welcome to join you as you enjoy some shade and a cold pour.
Brewers at 4001 Yancey
Neighborhood: Lower South End
This taproom features more than 120 tap handles, as well as wine and cocktails. This massive space has just as much seating inside as it does outside, which means you and your four-legged friend will have plenty of room to enjoy an al-fresco brew.
Camp North End
Neighborhood: Camp North End
You and your dog will love exploring Camp North End’s 76-acre campus filled with shops, bars, eateries and plenty of outdoor seating. Grab a brew from Free Range Bar or NoDa Company Canteen to enjoy as you listen to live music on the Boileryard stage.
Charlotte Beer Garden
Neighborhood: South End
Charlotte Beer Garden offers the “largest draft beer selection in the world,” featuring 436 taps and three floors of space to spread out and enjoy. This includes a large, dog-friendly patio on the ground level. Spend a day sampling domestic and international beers with your best, four-legged friend.
The Dog Bar
Neighborhood: NoDa
The Dog Bar is a completely dog-friendly space where pooches can roam leash free, both inside and outside. During the warm-weather months, pets can make a splash in the bone-shaped pool. When temperatures cool down, bring fido inside to sit on the couches while you sip a seasonal ale.
Hoppin'
Neighborhood: South End
Charlotte’s first self-pour taproom, Hoppin’ boasts more than 60 rotating beer taps, plus wine and prosecco options and the Tacos Rick-O food truck. Pour yourself a pint then take a seat with your pet on the large outdoor patio filled with seating and lawn games.
Legion Brewing
Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood, SouthPark, West Charlotte
Sip one of Charlotte’s most popular IPAs, Juicy Jay, with your pup at all three of Legion Brewing’s taprooms, as well as the Trolley Barn in South End. Each location features an outdoor patio where you can enjoy a bite, a pint and some quality time with your four-legged friend.
Lucky Dog Bark & Brew
Neighborhood: Wesley Heights, Steele Creek, Cornelius
With indoor and outdoor play areas, grooming services, TVs and food trucks, Lucky Dog truly is a paradise for pets and owners. Specifically designed for pups, all three locations offer dog care services with a full bar for humans. Kick back, grab a drink and enjoy the puppy party.
NoDa Brewing Company
Neighborhood: NoDa
Grab a Jam Session and belly up to a picnic table at NoDa Brewing Company’s large outdoor space, complete with tasty eats from a rotating array of food trucks. The dog-friendly patio is open on weekends at the OG location and Tuesday through Sunday at the North End taproom.
NoDa Company Store
Neighborhood: NoDa
NoDa Company Store is home to arguably one of the most enjoyable patio setups in the Queen City. Call dibs on a porch swing and enjoy local beers, wine or the delicious frozen drinks. Bring your pup for a relaxing day in a NoDa oasis that radiates tropical vibes.
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Neighborhood: Lower South End
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is a pooch’s utopia, with a sprawling beer garden that’s surrounded by 100-year-old oak, mature pecan and hickory trees. Pet parents will enjoy the German-style beers, as well as a menu peppered with German-inspired favorites like bratwurst and a Reuben sandwich.
Optimist Hall
Neighborhood: Optimist Park
At this 22,000-square-foot food hall, you’ll find more than two dozen food stalls, craft beer at Fonta Flora Brewery and The Spindle Bar, and a spacious, dog-friendly courtyard to enjoy your smorgasbord of cuisine. Don’t forget to reward your good boy or girl with a treat from Pet Wants, a pet supply store.
Pinhouse
Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood
At Pinhouse, you’ll find 72 self-serve taps of wine, beer and cider. If you aren’t there for duckpin bowling, find a space on the outdoor patio for you and your pet to unwind. If your dog needs to burn off some energy after, take them to nearby Freedom Park.
Seoul Food Meat Company
Neighborhood: South End, Optimist Park
This place truly has it all: great food, karaoke booths and a full bar. Both Seoul Food Meat Co. locations have a fenced-in dog park to let your four-legged friend roam around. Grab your gang and let your dog get some exercise while you enjoy beer and Korean-style chicken wings.
Skiptown
Neighborhood: South End
This massive, 24,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor dog park was made for pooches and their parents. Skiptown offers 15,000 square feet of outdoor space for off-leash play, a splash pad, and a bar with beer and cocktails. Your pup can even lap up a bone broth dog beer.
Southern Strain Brewing Company
Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood, Concord
This brewery has two locations, each pet friendly. While the Concord taproom only allows dogs on the outdoor patio, the Plaza Midwood location lets pets come inside which is perfect for a rainy day. Bring your pet for one of the weekly events like music bingo or trivia.
Sycamore Brewing
Neighborhood: South End
While Sycamore Brewing recently renovated its taproom, this expanded four-and-one concept is still a popular place to sip beer with your pooch. Try a signature beer, like the Southern Girl blonde ale or Mountain Candy IPA, with your pup on the lower level outdoor patio.
Triple C Brewing Co.
Neighborhood: South End
On Triple C Brewing Co.’s patio, you can sample the ever-popular Golden Boy Blonde ale or the Baby Maker double IPA, then grab lunch from one of the rotating food trucks parked on-site. Some outdoor seating is on concrete, but there’s also a grassy area for pets to sniff.
VBGB Beer Hall & Garden
Neighborhood: Uptown
The AvidXchange Music Factory’s VBGB Beer Hall & Garden boasts one of Charlotte’s largest patios, along with 30 craft beers on draft and tasty food offerings. Bring the crew, including your furry family members, for dinner and some beer overlooking the sand volleyball courts.
Article originally written by Lauren Levine Corriher. Updates by Arielle Patterson in September 2023.
