Milwaukee Eats

Downtown Milwaukee Dog-Friendly Places to Eat

Downtown Milwaukee has several dog-friendly places to eat, including bars, quick bites, and full-service restaurants, which makes it very easy to plan meals every trip for the annual Fromm PetFest. See prior post for more. This year, we tried a few that is worth checking out for yourself.

Oggie’s Kitchen & Bar

Oggie’s Kitchen & Bar is located in Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee. While we were able to reserve “outdoor seating” on OpenTable, there were no tables and chairs set-up outside. Luckily, when we asked the host about our outdoor seating reservation, we were told that the hotel is dog-friendly so I was allowed to sit inside. Thank goodness because we did not have a back-up plan for our pre-PetFest morning breakfast – plus, it was cold and windy outside!

We visited Oggie’s for a quick breakfast before PetFest. And while Oggie’s does not have a dog menu (it really should since the hotel is dog-friendly), the human menu had bacon – which was really invented for dogs!

After breakfast, I walked around the hotel lobby because it was SO pretty! I would definitely love to stay there on my next trip to Milwaukee.

Riley’s Sandwich & Social House

Riley’s Sandwich & Social House is located in the Historic Third Ward neighborhood. It is also only 1 block south of the very dog-friendly Kimpton Journeyman Hotel! See below for more on where to stay for PetFest weekends in Milwaukee.

There is a very nice outdoor patio area, but dogs are allowed inside too! So we grabbed a booth indoors since it was still very windy and chilly outside. Once inside, there is a dog board that requires all dogs to wear a color-coded tag designating whether your dog is extra friendly (“give me all the pets” green), neutral (“ask before you touch me” yellow), or not so friendly (“do not even try it” red).

After tagging myself as “green”, we headed to the kiosks to place our food order. Riley’s has a dog menu that includes “Riley’s Fav”, which is sous vide organic chicken breast, carrots, and broccoli. But I am allergic to chicken so I felt left out… Hopefully one day they will add more to their dog menu! There also was a dog dessert – Riley’s Frozen Treat – which was pumpkin and peanut butter favor. But I was told that I had enough pup cream desserts earlier that day at PetFest so I did not get to try it 🙁

Once my humans placed their sandwich order, they grabbed a cocktail while they waited for their sandwiches, which are picked up next door at Riley’s Sandwich Co. They got the special of the day sandwich that had a lumpia in the middle and it was worth all the calories – or so I’m told!

Overall, this is not your typical sandwich shop (aka Subway/Jimmy John’s/Jersey Mike’s). The combination of tasty sandwiches and delicious cocktails are worth checking out. And the fact that they are dog-friendly INSIDE is simply the icing on top of a good lickin’ day.

Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar

Tupelo Honey is located just 3 blocks south of the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel, which makes it an easy walk to brunch. We headed over here post-PetFest the next morning before driving back to Chicago. And it was worth checking out because of the cute outdoor patio and DOG MENU!

The human got chicken and waffles that looked like a cozy and comfy selection. But I got the Bow Wow Bowl, which made it my first time trying biscuits and gravy. And since my humans were not sure if I would eat it (because I am a picky diva), they also ordered A Pawfect Snack, which were 3 strips of bacon (and who doesn’t love bacon). Pro tip: Crumble the bacon on top of your biscuits and gravy!

Where to Stay in Milwaukee

We stayed in two different hotels during this past Milwaukee trip. For more on where to stay (or where to skip), look out for my next blog post!