Dogs are not hard-to-please souls. I could give mine an empty Coke bottle and she’d act like Christmas came early. But still, it’s hard for me not to give into the temptation to shower her with all manner of treats. (It also helps assuage the food-lover guilt I have about giving her the same boring lamb-and-rice pellets every morning and night.) So although your pups will probably love anything you put in front of them, they’ll especially love these tasty offerings from local restaurants.
Prosciutto Bone at Etto
1541 14th St., NW
These massive leg bones, which sometimes show up on the specials board at this pizza-and-charcuterie destination, come loaded with chewy bits of salty ham. They last for weeks, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my typically ADD goldendoodle, Mika, so obsessive about one thing for so long. Trainers talk about Ferrari-level treats. This is a Virgin spaceship-level one. Bonus: your dog’s breath could smell like a lot worse things than prosciutto.
Puppy Pops at the Dairy Godmother
2310 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria
When President Obama swung through this Del Ray frozen custard shop five years ago, he picked up some of these frozen sweets for Bo. The yogurt-and-peanut-butter-based cups are still a popular staple on the menu, and they come in two flavors: pumpkin and banana.
A Trip to the Pooch Patio at Art and Soul
415 New Jersey Ave., NW
There are plenty of good outdoor drinking spots where you can hang with your dog (beer garden Dacha is especially great for them), but there aren’t many places that cater to the tail-wagging set like Art Smith’s Southern restaurant. Here, on the patio during regular lunch and dinner hours, you can order your pup indulgences like a grilled-to-order six-ounce hanger steak ($8), or a frozen marrow bone ($5). Sadly, the Bowser’s Beer (basically, fizzy beef stock) is no longer on the menu, so you can’t go round for round.
Bacon & Queso ZillaBonez at Baked and Wired
1052 Thomas Jefferson St., NW
Besides the bacon and Parmesan, these freshly baked cookies, which began as a side project for the bakery owners’ young daughter, are actually fairly healthy (they’re made with whole-wheat flour, cornmeal, eggs, and oats). Each red Chinese-takeout box contains cookies in lots of sizes, which make them good for different uses like Kong-stuffing and dog walks.
Pooch-ini Sundae at Shake Shack
Multiple area locations
I love Shake Shack burgers. So does Mika. So while it’s great that I can bring her to the outdoor tables at the Dupont location, it’s not so great when she can’t keep her nose away from my—and everyone else’s—patty. This peanut-butter-and-vanilla sundae, finished with homemade dog biscuits, was a worthy distraction. And, in true Danny Meyer fashion, it’s beautifully timed: it took Mika about ten minutes to polish the thing off, the same duration as my meal.
Find Ann Limpert on Twitter at @annlimpert.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
