Dog Friendly City Guide: San Francisco, USA

San Francisco is made for walking a dog, which is fortunate, because the city rewards you for it. It folds the Pacific, the Golden Gate and a run of headland trails into the space of a few miles, and a dog is welcome along most of it.

Add a bar culture that keeps a water bowl by the door and a cool, forgiving climate, and you have one of the great American cities to spend a few days with a dog at your heel.

Each place below has been checked as genuinely dog friendly, and the hotels at the end are ranked against the Roch Dog Friendly Standard.

Where to Walk

Start at the edge of the continent. The California Coastal Trail runs from the ruins of the Sutro Baths out toward the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Lands End Trail gives you cypress, cliff and the cold blue Pacific the whole way. Inland, Golden Gate Park is the great green lung, with the Stow Lake loop tucked inside it.

There is more once you climb. The Presidio winds through forest to the bridge, Mount Sutro hides a fog-soaked eucalyptus wood near the centre of the city, and the flat Embarcadero carries you along the bay to Fisherman's Wharf when you want the easy option.

The Bars

San Francisco drinks well with a dog along. Twin Peaks Tavern in the Castro is the historic corner bar with the picture windows, while Mars Bar and Mini Bar hold their own neighbourhoods and Harry's Bar keeps the Fillmore end.

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For more character, St. Mary's Pub, Perry's and the gleefully odd Emperor Norton's BoozeLand all take the dog without comment, and Cafe Zoetrope, Coppola's triangular cafe-bar, pours wine to a literary crowd.

Eating Out

For a table the city spreads wide. Blue Plate does its beloved Mission comfort food, Fish & Farm keeps it local and seasonal downtown, and Sociale hides a heated patio up a quiet alley. Canela brings a Spanish welcome to the Castro, Burma Love does the city's signature Burmese, and Saru Sushi and the bayside Waterbar round out the spread.

Brunch, Pizza and Sweets

Weekend brunch is a San Francisco institution, and the dog is invited. Pork Store Cafe on Haight and Squat & Gobble out in West Portal are the dependable queues, and Town's End does it by the bay. For a slice, All Good Pizza in the Dogpatch and The Pizza Place out by the ocean both keep patio room, and for afters The Ice Cream Bar in Cole Valley and The Baked Bear do the cones.

Coffee

Between walks the coffee is covered, at Stable Cafe in the Mission, Another Cafe, the Boulange and Cafe International on Haight.

Where to Stay

Which leaves the bed. San Francisco's certified hotels have each been assessed and ranked against the Roch Dog Friendly Standard on what they actually do for a dog and its owner, not on what the booking page claims.

The San Francisco Proper leads the certified list on a C, with the Hotel Emblem close behind, each rated and reviewed so you know what the welcome is worth before you book.

The full list of certified dog friendly hotels in San Francisco shows how every one was ranked, and what that ranking buys you and your dog.

This guide was first published on 1 June 2023 and updated on 8 June 2026.