Aug 9, 2026

12 Bar Harbor Restaurants That Take Dogs, Ranked by Patio

A fenced garden and an unshaded sidewalk table are entirely different propositions on a wet Maine evening. Twelve Bar Harbor restaurants that take dogs, ranked by the thing that actually decides the meal.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Bar Harbor, Maine10 min readEat & Drink

Bar Harbor is a small town that punches far above its size on dog-friendly dining, and the reason is geography. Almost everyone here is on their way to or from Acadia, almost everyone has a dog in the car, and pets cannot be left unattended in vehicles in the park. Restaurants adapted.

The list below is ranked by patio, not by food, because with a dog under the table the patio is what determines whether the meal works. A fenced garden and an unshaded sidewalk table are two entirely different propositions on a wet Maine evening.

Two practical notes before the list. Maine handles dogs in outdoor dining at the municipal level rather than with a blanket statewide rule, so the decision sits with the town and the individual restaurant, and it can change. And many Bar Harbor restaurants are seasonal, closing for the winter along with most of the town. Call ahead on both counts.

Tier one: contained patios, where a dog can genuinely settle

1. McKay's Public House

A fenced-in gravel garden, which makes it the only genuinely contained outdoor space on this list. Water bowls provided, locally sourced cooking, and a setting off the main street.

For a dog that is still learning to settle in public, or a large dog you would rather not have in a walkway, this is the outright best choice in Bar Harbor.

2. Blaze

A mostly enclosed back patio, set away from the street, with water bowls. Pizza and New American cooking. The enclosure is not full fencing but it is a defined space rather than pavement, which is the next best thing.

3. 2 Cats Bar Harbor

An expansive, shaded patio and a breakfast menu, which is an underrated combination. Breakfast is the easiest meal to eat with a dog, because the dog has not yet done its day and the patio is not yet full. Water bowls provided.

Tier two: covered and heated, for Maine weather

This is not a minor category. Bar Harbor averages 70 degrees in September and 59 in October, fog comes in off the water without warning, and a covered patio is the difference between a meal and a retreat.

4. CherrySTONES

A large covered patio, seasonal, seafood. The covered space is generous enough that a rain shower does not end the evening.

5. Mainely Meat BBQ

A covered patio and, notably, a dog menu. A restaurant that prints one has committed to taking dogs rather than tolerating them. Water bowls provided.

6. Paddy's Irish Pub and Restaurant

A heated patio, which in Maine is worth more than a view. Irish-American cooking, water bowls, and the option of eating outside comfortably well past the point where other patios have given up for the year.

Tier three: waterfront, where the view earns its place

7. Stewman's Lobster Pound

Waterfront picnic tables and a dog menu. Picnic tables suit a dog better than close-set bistro seating, because there is room underneath and the dog is not in an aisle. Casual, maritime, seasonal.

8. Chart Room

A waterfront patio deck with harbour views and water bowls. Slightly out of the town centre, which means slightly less foot traffic past your table.

9. Looking Glass Restaurant

Deck seating under umbrellas with harbour views, casually upscale, water bowls provided. The umbrellas matter, since this is one of the more exposed decks in town.

10. Geddy's

Outdoor seating near Agamont Park, which puts you at the top of the pier with the harbour in front of you. Popular and busy, so this is a patio for a settled dog rather than a nervous one.

Tier four: casual and central

11. Side Street Cafe

An outdoor deck in the middle of downtown, with water bowls and lobster rolls. Convenient rather than tranquil, and the busiest pedestrian setting on this list.

12. Thirsty Whale Tavern

Patio seating near the harbour, pub food, water bowls. Straightforward, central, and reliable.

The twelve at a glance

Rank	Restaurant	Patio type	Note
1	McKay's Public House	Fenced gravel garden	Only contained space in town
2	Blaze	Mostly enclosed back patio	Off the street
3	2 Cats Bar Harbor	Expansive, shaded	Breakfast
4	CherrySTONES	Large covered patio	Seasonal, seafood
5	Mainely Meat BBQ	Covered patio	Dog menu
6	Paddy's Irish Pub	Heated patio	Extends the season
7	Stewman's Lobster Pound	Waterfront picnic tables	Dog menu
8	Chart Room	Waterfront deck	Quieter setting
9	Looking Glass	Deck, umbrella tables	Harbour views
10	Geddy's	Outdoor, near Agamont Park	Busy
11	Side Street Cafe	Downtown deck	Central, busy
12	Thirsty Whale Tavern	Harbour-area patio	Reliable pub food

When your dog cannot sit through a meal

Three walk-up options worth knowing, because a dog that has just done eleven miles of carriage road may not be ready to lie still for ninety minutes.

Peekytoe Provisions does sandwiches and seafood with outdoor seating and water bowls, quick enough to be in and out.

Travelin Lobster is a seasonal walk-up window with outdoor seating.

C-Ray Lobster is a seasonal lobster shack with picnic tables and water bowls.

Order at a window, eat at a picnic table, walk away when your dog says so. On a first evening with an unsettled dog this is a better plan than a table you have committed to.

Beerworks also has a spacious outdoor patio with water bowls, and is worth adding to the list if the others are full.

How to choose in ninety seconds

Rather than working down the list, work from your dog.

A dog that bolts, lunges, or is new to patios. McKay's, for the fence. Nothing else in town gives you a physical boundary, and no amount of good intentions substitutes for one.

A large dog. Stewman's or any of the picnic-table places, because picnic tables leave genuine room underneath and put your dog out of the server aisle. Close-set bistro tables are the worst configuration for an 80-pound dog.

A dog that is cold, wet, or old. Paddy's heated patio, or CherrySTONES and Mainely Meat under cover. A shivering dog will not settle and the meal will be short.

A dog that has done nothing all morning. Do not eat yet. Walk first, then eat. This is the single most reliable predictor of whether a restaurant meal works.

A dog that is fine with anything. Take the view. Chart Room, Looking Glass, or Geddy's by Agamont Park, and enjoy the harbour.

A dog you are not sure about. Breakfast at 2 Cats, on the shaded patio, before the town wakes up. Lowest-stakes meal of the day, quietest hour, easiest exit.

Patio etiquette that keeps these patios open

Under the table, not in the aisle. Bar Harbor's patios are compact and servers move fast with hot plates.

Short lead. Acadia's six-foot rule is a good default everywhere in town, and a retractable lead across a walkway is a hazard.

Nothing on the table. No dog on a chair, no bowl on the tabletop. Ask for water on the ground.

Do not ask staff to handle your dog. Kitchens and hands do not mix with fur, whatever the local rule says.

Leave if it is not working. A barking dog on a small-town patio in high season is remembered.

More general guidance is in finding pet-friendly restaurants and dog park etiquette.

Timing the meal around the park

Eat early or eat late in July and August. Acadia recorded more than 4 million visits in 2025 and August runs at roughly two and a half times the park's average month, which shows up in restaurant queues as much as in trailhead parking.

Exercise first. A dog that has done the carriage roads settles under a table. A dog that has spent the afternoon in a hotel room does not. All 45 miles of Acadia's carriage roads take leashed dogs, which makes them the easiest way to spend a dog's energy before dinner. Finding pet-friendly restaurants covers how to ask about a patio before you commit to a table.

Book what you can. Bar Harbor's patio tables fill first, and a restaurant with a full patio cannot seat you inside with a dog.

Come in September. Acadia's pet closure at Sand Beach runs to 8 September and at Echo Lake to 15 September, so both open to dogs mid-month, and the crowds thin at the same time.

Check the season. A large share of these restaurants close for the winter. From roughly November through April, assume nothing is open until you have confirmed it.

Where to stay so you can walk to dinner

Bar Harbor's compactness is its advantage. Most of the twelve above sit within a few blocks of each other around the harbour and Main Street, so staying in town removes a drive from every evening.

That matters more with a dog than without one, because it means you are not leaving a dog in a car outside a restaurant, and it means the walk home doubles as the last outing of the day. The Shore Path along the waterfront is the obvious route.

Search verified pet-friendly hotels, filter to hotels that allow large dogs if yours is big, and read questions to ask before booking a pet-friendly hotel. If the trip is really a house-hunt, pet-inclusive versus pet-friendly explains the distinction that matters most on a lease.

Conclusion

Rank Bar Harbor's dog-friendly patios by food and you get one answer. Rank them by what the patio does for a dog and you get a different one, which is the useful one.

McKay's Public House wins outright on the only criterion that is hard to replicate: it has an actual fence. Blaze is the runner-up for the same reason in weaker form. After that, in a town where fog and rain arrive without notice, the covered and heated patios at CherrySTONES, Mainely Meat, and Paddy's beat every waterfront view on the list.

And if your dog cannot manage a full meal yet, the walk-up windows at Peekytoe, Travelin Lobster, and C-Ray are a better plan than a table you cannot leave.

Restaurant policies, hours, seasons, and ownership change, and most of Bar Harbor closes for the winter. Confirm before you go. Then find the patio your pet will wag "yes" to.

Frequently asked questions

Are dogs allowed on restaurant patios in Bar Harbor? At many of them, yes. Maine handles dogs in outdoor dining at the municipal level rather than with a blanket statewide rule, so the decision rests with the town and the individual restaurant. Call ahead, particularly outside high season.

Which Bar Harbor restaurant is best for a dog that cannot settle? McKay's Public House, which has a fenced-in gravel garden and is the only genuinely contained outdoor space on this list. Blaze, with a mostly enclosed back patio set off the street, is the next best.

Do any Bar Harbor restaurants have a dog menu? Mainely Meat BBQ and Stewman's Lobster Pound both do, alongside dog-friendly outdoor seating. A printed dog menu is a strong signal that a restaurant intends to keep taking dogs.

Which Bar Harbor patios are covered or heated? CherrySTONES has a large covered patio, Mainely Meat BBQ has a covered patio, and Paddy's Irish Pub has a heated one. In Maine, where fog and rain arrive quickly and October averages 59 degrees, these are worth more than a view.

Are Bar Harbor restaurants open in winter? Many are not. A large share of the town's restaurants, inns, and boat operators are seasonal and close for the winter, so from roughly November through April you should confirm before setting out rather than assume.

Can I get a quick meal with a dog that will not sit still? Yes. Peekytoe Provisions, Travelin Lobster, and C-Ray Lobster all offer walk-up or quick-service food with outdoor seating and water bowls, which lets you leave whenever your dog needs to.

Sources

Restaurant pet policies, hours, seasons, menus, and ownership change frequently, and most of Bar Harbor is seasonal. Confirm directly with the restaurant before you go.