Take Your Dog to Brunch at The Fat Dog

With or without your pet, enjoy the patio at this hip NoHo haunt.

With our warm spring weather, it’s high time to take your dog out to brunch. Or someone else’s dog out to brunch. No need to worry about brunching with Mom for Mother’s Day until next week. In the meantime, NoHo’s Fat Dog is an excellent place to celebrate the pooch.

Waiting to get the brunch party started at The Fat Dog

Even if you don’t have a dog, you are likely to make friends with one at The Fat Dog, opened last June as a second location for the West Hollywood restaurant. On a cold day, sit inside and order the wonderful Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie, a marvel of root vegetables, tender chicken and puff pastry. But if it’s spring or summer, definitely park it at tables or picnic-style benches on the large, inviting patio.

Of the four groups of brunch-ers on a recent Saturday, all had a dog. Seriously. The restaurant has something of a dog theme with portraits of family pooches on the walls and doggie-themed cocktails including the Off the Leash (bourbon, Aperol, lemon juice, agave) and the Tailwagger (vodka, wild berry cider, lime ginger and seasonal berries). Here the dog is not just a theme, it’s reality.

Dogs are offered a bowl of water but must adhere to some strict rules. First, the dress code: Wear a leash (The Sauce observed at least one infraction). Shared plates may be a trend, but not for dogs: no canines eating off the house dishes. We also must avoid the three B's: barking, begging and biting.

Our Shepsky (German shepherd/Husky) rescue does not bite, but Alley believes there’s nothing wrong with signaling her interest in a sample or commenting (loudly) on the service. But busy with her personal water bowl, some portable snacks and the friendly staff, even a chatty dog like Alley was relaxed, quiet and happy to bask in the sun.

Of course, The Sauce wouldn’t take a dog to a bad Valley restaurant, so let’s not forget the food: Brunch time heralds a menu of everything from the sturdy and meaty (short rib hash, burgers, the Fat Dog hot dog) to sophisticated delectables including some light-as-air blueberry ricotta pancakes (not plate-sized, but enough for most humans) and the house-cured salmon pizza with arugula, creamery fromage blanc, capers and fried eggs joining the salmon on a pastry crust. Definitely worth barking about.