Best Dog Friendly Happy Hours in South Bay

Who doesn’t love a good happy hour? We realized one year into the pandemic that we hadn’t been taking advantage of our work from home schedule – the joys of no longer wasting time on commuting – and needed to rectify it immediately. But at this point, we had just adopted Kona and realized that most of our go-to happy hour spots we went to before her homecoming are not dog friendly. 

When we first looked into happy hours where Kona could also join, it was frustrating that we couldn’t find accurate and comprehensive information in one place, but rather had to rely on a combination of Yelp, Google Maps, blogs, individual restaurant websites, and word of mouth. The happy hour menu would be on a restaurant’s website, the existence of an outdoor patio confirmed in Yelp details, and HH hours in a Google review… but even with all that information, we still needed to sift through more reviews and photos verifying that it was in fact dog friendly as not all restaurants with patios actually allow dogs.

So for those who wish to wind down a long day with the company of your dog plus affordable bites and drinks, here’s our list of the best dog friendly happy hours in the South Bay:

1. OREN’S HUMMUS

• Locations: Cupertino Main Street, Los Gatos Downtown, Mountain View Downtown, Palo Alto Downtown
• HH Hours: Monday-Thursday 3-5pm
• Oren’s Happy Hour Menu
  1. Favorite Items: Sampler dip platter with whole wheat pitas, bourekas (potato), falafel, classic hummus, $4 beers (Calicraft kolsch, Hop Valley hazy IPA)
  2. Veg*n Options: Yes, the majority of the sides and dips are vegan. The regular menu has plant-based lamb.
• Crowd Level: Low
• Pro Tip: Be sure to explicitly ask the staff for the happy hour menu, and to specifically mention that you will be ordering off it. At the Palo Alto location, we were directed to the big happy hour chalkboard outside the front door and the waiter initially charged us the regular price because we hadn’t explicitly mentioned wanting the happy hour price.
  
  This is our go-to happy hour spot! We especially like the covered outdoor patio at the Cupertino Main Street location. We love Mediterranean food and think Oren’s has some of the best hummus and eggplant dips in the South Bay, plus the fluffiest pitas. Their happy hour prices are also very affordable. Oren’s not only has amazing drink deals with $4 bottled beers and $6 wines, but their food is also delicious with dips, sides, fries, and pita sandwiches at $3-8 off regular prices. Plus they have lots of gluten-free and/or vegan options. Let’s just say that when we first discovered Oren’s happy hour, we went multiple times in the same week and the staff definitely recognized us – no shame for great deals!

2. EUREKA!

• Locations: Cupertino Main Street, Santa Clara Square
  • NOTE: The Mountain View Downtown location does not have a permanent outdoor patio, but sometimes there are tables out front.
• HH Hours: Weekdays 3-6pm
• Eureka! Happy Hour Menu
  1. Favorite Items: Eureka! American burger, truffle cheese fries, Wild Child cocktail, $5 beers
  2. Veg*n Options: Yes, but only side dishes like chargrilled cauliflower, spicy ginger green beans, artichoke dip, and fries.
• Crowd Level: Low
• Pro Tip: If you can’t make weekday happy hour, Eureka also has other weekly events with great deals:
  1. Tues All Day — Half off wines
  2. Wed After 6pm — Steal the Glass. Order a beer from that week’s featured brewery, and “steal” (take home) the unique glassware. Limited availability. 
  3. Weekend All Day — $6 Bloody Marys and Mimosas
     
• When we’re craving a burger that’s not from In-N-Out, we go to Eureka! We really like the atmosphere and ambience at Eureka! Both locations have a spacious and covered outdoor patio, friendly staff, and lots of TV screens to watch your favorite Bay Area sports team. Eureka! consistently has a good selection of beers from local breweries like Laughing Monk and Drake’s. We’ve been to the Cupertino location many times for their “hoppy” hour,  and the service and food quality is always great – the waiters are always so excited to say hi to Kona. We always make sure to order the $10 happy hour burger, which is juicy and also comes with fries.

3. LAZY DOG RESTAURANT & BAR

• Location: Cupertino Main Street
• HH Hours: Weekdays 3-6pm; Sun-Thurs 9pm-midnight
• Lazy Dog Happy Hour Menu
  1. Favorite Items: Sweet potato tots, onion rings, brussel sprouts, goat cheese & pepper jelly, chicken lettuce wraps, $15 sangria pitcher
  2. Veg*n Options: Yes, cajun fries, sweet potato tots, brussel sprouts, buffalo cauliflower, togarashi edamame beans, onion rings, etc.
• Crowd Level: High
• Pro Tip: Ask for the “pup menu” – your dog will thank you. You can order $5 brown rice and veggie bowls with either grilled hamburger or grilled chicken breast.
  
  Kona would be upset if Lazy Dog wasn’t included on this list – it’s the only spot we’ve come across in the South Bay that has a menu specifically for dogs! The staff always brings out a bowl of water for Kona too. They have a large covered patio with lots of hooks and areas to attach dog leashes, and an elevated bonfire pit that adds to the ambience. For the pawrents, Lazy Dog is a good happy hour spot with classic American bar dishes. All the eats on the happy hour menu are less than $10, and the cocktails are $5-8. They have wine and beer deals too, but the options aren’t that good – order the cocktails instead. If coming for the weekend late-night happy hour, I’d recommend making a reservation ahead of time since it can get crowded.

4. RUBIO’S COASTAL GRILL

• Locations: North San Jose, South San Jose, Sunnyvale
• Hours: Tues & Fri All Day
• Rubio’s Weekly Deal Menu
  1. Favorite Items: $1.99 original fish taco, $2 beers at select locations
  2. Veg*n Options: No, but the regular menu has Impossible and veggie-only options.
• Crowd Level: Medium
• Pro Tip: Ask for the bigger salsa cups to use at the self-serve salsa bar so that you can load up on their salsas (mild, tomatillo, roasted chipotle, picante) and cilantro/onion mix.
  
  Although technically not a “happy hour,” it would be a shame if we did not include Rubio’s on this list for their all-day Taco Tuesday and Thank Goodness It’s Fish Friday (TGIFF) specials. On Tuesdays, the beer-battered Original Fish tacos are $1.99 each ($3 off), and are not only crispy and flaky but also a decent size – you could easily fill up with 2-3 tacos. And while there aren’t any drink specials on Tuesdays, their bottled beers are only $5. On Fridays, you can kick off the weekend with $2 beers at select locations and the Original Fish Two Taco Plate with pinto beans and tortilla chips for $7.99.

5. PACIFIC CATCH

• Locations: Campbell Pruneyard, Cupertino Main Street, Santa Clara Square, Mountain View San Antonio Village, Palo Alto Stanford
  • NOTE: The Downtown Sunnyvale location is NOT dog friendly. Although not technically in the South Bay, there is a location in San Mateo Downtown as well.
• HH Hours: Weekdays 3-6pm
• Pacific Catch Happy Hour Menu
  1. Favorite Items: Coconut shrimp, sticky ribs, pokes & ceviche trio, $40 cocktail pitchers
  2. Veg*n Options: No, but the regular menu has grilled tofu bowl, fries, and veggie sides.
• Crowd Level: Medium
• Pro Tip: Sign up for Pacific Catch Rewards and receive a free sign-up reward. You can also make reservations ahead of time on OpenTable.
  
  We love the atmosphere at Pacific Catch, with its spacious outdoor seating and friendly staff who check-up on Kona throughout the evening to ensure she is hydrated. Our go-to location is Cupertino Main Street where there is plenty of outdoor seating and no wait – even when arriving closer to 6pm. This is one of the more expensive happy hours, which is expected as the majority of the menu is seafood. For quality poke and ceviche that is better than your average fast-casual joint and excellent tropical cocktails that transport you to sunny paradise, it’s worth it! Make sure to order the coconut shrimp – it’s got the perfect crunch and amazing flavor.