Even the finest chefs citywide are jumping on this culinary chuckwagon, honing human meals into doggie delights, from lamb, duck and chicken to sweet treats like carob-coated pretzels and peanut butter cups.
Offering a bowl of water or a biscuit treat is nothing new for many dog-tolerant outdoor restaurants. Rittenhouse Square's Rouge, manned by dog-loving owner Neil Stein, has been welcoming dogs with water and treats for years. So has Caribou Cafe, at 11th and Walnut streets; Bliss, on the Avenue of the Arts, and plenty of Starbucks locations.
But this new, more upscale canine craze can be attributed to a number of things, from clever restaurant marketing to a rise in doggie health consciousness after the recent pet-food recalls - to the fact that so many darn Philadelphians want to take their dogs out on the town.
"People get home and haven't seen their dogs all day and they think 'I'm going to get a beer, and I'm bringing him with me,' " said Deuce Restaurant & Bar owner Laura Vernola. "Happy Hour is a big one for them."
The neighborhood surrounding Liberties Walk (2nd Street near Girard Avenue), where Deuce is located, is arguably one of the most dog-dense areas of the city.
"There are two or more dogs for every one person," laughed Vernola, who noticed a recent increase in owners who come to the restaurant's 60 outdoor seats with their pooches.
So she employed the culinary services of Liberties Walk's nearby pooch palace, Chic Petique, which now provides human-grade dog meals that are tasty and properly balanced with meats, veggies and starches, like the "Cowboy Cookout," a $3 entree featuring beef, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans and Granny Smith apples, or the "Turducken," another $3 feast featuring a melange of chicken, duck and turkey with sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans.
"The dogs eat and then they just go to sleep under the table," said Vernola.
