Dog friendly restaurants in Vaud and Geneva
For some reason there doesn’t seem to be a list that I can find on google of dog friendly restaurants in Vaud and Geneva, so here goes, I thought I’d start one! If you have any restaurants and cafés you’d like to add to the list, please let me know and I’ll happily add them. For note, I’ve not found all restaurants to be open to having our four legged friends pay a visit, which is fine, so having this list should be useful as it’ll save you having to phone ahead. I always give them a call beforehand to check before turning up, just for this very reason.
For us as a family, we love going out to a local restaurant from time to time and it’s important to us that our dog comes along too. She has very bad separation anxiety and so we don’t want to leave her behind to suffer when we’re out having some fun. But we are lucky in that she’s friends with everyone and very laid back, so once we’re in a restaurant, she’ll curl up for a sleep and that is it….so here’s a little shout out to all the cafés and restaurants who allow us to bring our dog with us and us to carry on living , and for once be spoiled and looked after by someone else cooking the meal and doing the washing up!
These are all places we’ve been to and are genuine reviews, no sponsorships.
AUBERGE DES GRANDS BOIS - BUCHILLON, Rte des Grands-Bois 10, 1164 Buchillon. 021 807 30 49.
This is top of our list for a good reason, it’s our hands down favourite! Truly excellent Italian food, very friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere. And all of this is made better to know we are welcome to take our dog along too. They have large indoor eating areas, some removed to one side for larger groups to be exclusive and a really charming outdoor area. Our kids go mad for the freshly made pizzas here, while I love their seasonal menu du jour, which is always excellent.
2. AUBERGE DE RIVAZ - LAVAUX VINYARDS. Rte de Sallaz 6, 1071 Rivaz, 0219461055.
This again is one of our absolute favourites. We phoned ahead to ask if it was OK to bring our dog, not only did they say yes, but when we turned up a bowl of water had been put out for her, ready to welcome her! Little things like this make a difference to us, and really show that they are dog friendly and are genuinely so. This restaurant is situated on the Lake road in Rivaz, nestled among the UNESCO world heritage site of the Lavaux vinyards. It’s surrounded by stunning scenery, making it an easy place to combine your dog walk with a well deserved lunch or dinner afterwards. We’ve been to this place a couple of times, recently for our 21st wedding anniversary….sans enfants, but avec la chienne! The excellence of the chef here is really evident, our main courses have always been a true feast of unusual and delicate flavours, all seasonal, and obviously prepared with a LOT of attention to detail…one for true gastronomers! The interior of this restaurant is comfortable, modern and welcoming, while the exterior is very charming and reminds me of the type of stone terraces found in old Manoirs.
3. HDINER - MORGES. Av. de Riond-Bosson 4, 1110 Morges, 021 802 46 66.
This is a fun family restaurant/diner and definitely the favourite of our kids (currently 16 & 12yo). The owners are in love with all things to do with Happy Days the American TV series from the 1970’s, so have recreated an American diner in honour of this style. They have all the typical food you’d expect from an American diner, hotdogs (PS they have one that is a foot long!!!), burgers, pulled pork, smoothies, some Mexican dishes and really yummy desserts. Although this isn’t haute cuisine, the food is done very well and we’ve always enjoyed our meal as much as our kids have. This is the place we’ll take our kids to celebrate a birthday, or an exam where they’ve done well. The interior decor is very modern and cool…lot’s of neon strip lighting, lights in tyres and as part of motorbike handlebars! This is another place where we always arrive to a warm welcome and a bowl of water for our dog to welcome her. It’s mostly indoors, but they have a small outdoors area for the warmer months.
4. MAHI RESTAURANT - VERNIER, GENEVA. Rte de Vernier 215, 1214 Vernier, 0223418252.
When our 16yo finished his GCSE exams, we offered to take him out for a meal to celebrate the end of his exams and to reward him for working so hard. He really wanted to go to an Indian restaurant, and here we ran into difficulties finding a place that would accept for us to bring our dog. All of the places I called around in Geneva refused! So we found this place, up in the far north west of the city, not in the centre as we’d planned, but it was well worth the visit. The staff were very warm and welcoming, they went out of their way to make us feel at home…in fact we ended up spending a lot of time chatting to the owner at one point in the evening, as he shared his personal journey to bring this restaurant into being. The food was absolutely excellent, one of the best Indian restaurants we’ve been too worldwide! Our boys still rave about the food in this place and beg us to make the journey back to Geneva just for this restaurant! Our youngest, a very picky eater….ate until he could no longer move…..something that rarely happens for this kid…he never over eats. In fact he went so nuts over the restaurant’s pershwari naan breads, he ate 6 servings with his curry, and the waiters were so impressed they brought him free refills!!! Which is why we ended up chatting to the owner….he must have been thinking: who was this skinny little kid eating them out of naan breads!!! Well worth a visit!
5. RESTAURANT DES EVAUX, ONEX, GENEVA. Chemin François-Chavaz 112, 1213 Onex, 022 793 00 93.
This is a very trendy upmarket restaurant for the younger and “In” crowd. They have long wide dining tables designed to bring large groups together, which is exactly what we used it for, to meet up with friends, a family from the local area who swear by this place as being great. My friend emailed the manager to ask if our dog was welcome to join and she received a very warm and friendly reply saying that we love our four legged friends, and they are very welcome to join us with their families. The food was a mixture of tartare du boeuf, burgers, fish, entrecôte, some vegan dishes, and some seasonal specialities….we all loved what we ordered and ate well. Lovely desserts too! The interior is massive and could easily welcome large groups, as could the outside terrace, which they’ve covered with sails in the summer to provide much welcome shade. One more fantastic thing about this restaurant, is it’s location, right in the heart of the Onex, Parc des Evaux, a large country park with tons of beautiful walks to do with your dog and family beforehand…not to mention there is tree climbing, kids play areas and a BMX biking range. You could easily make a day out of visiting this place, which is exactly what we did.
