Dining or Dogs: A Hard Choice For Charlotte Breweries

I spy three dogs in the taproom on a scorching Saturday afternoon in mid-July: a Lab mix in the corner near the to-go fridge; a Dalmatian who trots over to check out the merch table; and a timid, black-and-tan Australian Cattle Dog near the under-development space that soon will prevent her and her fellow pups from hanging out in the taproom. This make dog sad. This make hooman sad, too.

“It’s definitely tough for us to be dogs-inside for so many years, and then go to no-dogs-inside,” says Wes Dow, the general manager at NoDa Brewing’s main taproom on North Tryon Street. “We want to make sure the regulars who have dogs can still come here. In an ideal world, dogs would still be allowed inside. But the food concept will be important to us.”

Dow refers to NoDa Brewing’s first in-house kitchen, a partnership with Matthews-based Exchange Pizza Depot that will serve pizza, small plates, and salads. He expects it to have opened in August; it’s meant to replace the secondary bar’s space and the meal options that, until now, food trucks have handled. But food trucks are scarcer than they used to be, and craft breweries are expanding their options to maintain their customer bases.

That’s a bummer for dogs and their people. A 2019 state law allows dogs inside taprooms—as long as they don’t have kitchens. Charlotte still has plenty of breweries where dogs can hang out inside. But as Dow and I speak, we’re at the tail end (I am so sorry) of pups’ presence inside NoDa Brewing, founded in 2011 and located here since 2015.

It’s an understandable but hard choice for brewery owners to make. NoDa plans to compensate with a self-service water station, photo booth, and other features in its spacious patio, already a popular spot for canines. “We’re trying to enhance the outdoors to be more dog-friendly,” Dow says. And NoDa continues to raise money for the Humane Society of Charlotte through Rescue Brew, an annual limited-release beer.

Dog owners like Matt Sidney and Jacy Zichella can still find plenty of reason to come by. They’ve brought the aforementioned Australian Cattle Dog, Cedar, a 2-year-old who sniffs me, then settles at my feet and gazes upward with a “gimme a treat” look. An off-limits taproom “won’t stop us from coming here,” says Sidney, who lives with Zichella and Cedar in South End. “It’s the best of both worlds. She gets to come, and we hang out with her, and we get to drink beer we like with no guilt.”

Around town, the options vary widely, even among the most publicly dog-friendly breweries. I swung by a few others that day.

Dogs’ life at Resident Culture Brewing in Plaza Midwood: Bozeman sinks his teeth into a pup cup. Courtesy

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

Charlotte’s oldest brewery, with an extensive food menu, has never allowed dogs inside. That’s what the biergarten is for. It’s a full acre, shaded by oak, pecan, and hickory trees with water bowls scattered throughout. The wooden tree root barriers double as great spots for kids and dogs to stretch out.

Jim Birch, OMB’s chief operating officer, often brings his goldendoodle/retriever mix, PoBoy. (Birch used to live and work in New Orleans.) “For us, if this is a place where you can come and spend time with friends for a few hours,” he says, “it seems only natural to have your pet with you, too.” On crisp fall weekends, he adds, you might see as many as 100 dogs hang in the biergarten. Not today, though. Too hot, even for PoBoy. “She’s at Skiptown this morning,” Birch says as he gazes out over the empty space. “She’s so tired.”

Resident Culture Brewing

You and your pup can stroll right into the main taproom in Plaza Midwood and snag a beer for yourself, a Milk-Bone from the bar-top jar, even buy a pup cup for $2. Bartender Dylan Spinelli prepares one—he uses a Milk-Bone as a swizzle stick—for Jason and Joy McNutt’s pit mix, Hershey. Consumption time: approximately 3 seconds.

The McNutts live just a few minutes away and come here with Hershey often. He’s a 5-year-old rescue from the city’s Animal Care and Control shelter, where Joy McNutt volunteers. “We fostered him for a couple of months and then just fell in love,” she says. “R.C. is a very safe place for our dog.” There’s plenty of room on the shaded porch, too.

Vaulted Oak Brewing

Another taproom open to dogs. Vaulted Oak opened in 2021 on Monroe Road near the Elizabeth, Oakhurst, and Cotswold neighborhoods, so it’s a convenient spot for East Charlotte dog-and-beer lovers. No need for a kitchen, either: Sal’s Pizza Factory across the street will deliver right to your table.

“We try to do as many dog-related events as we can,” says Kiel Arrington, the brewery’s founder and co-owner. Those include a partnership with Fit with Fido CLT, which holds Saturday-morning workouts and training sessions for dogs and humans every two weeks. The brewery also takes advantage of its presence in a former bank building: “Sometimes,” Arrington says, “we put treats in the pneumatic tubes.”