St. Petersburg is a walking city with patio weather most of the year, so bringing the dog along for a long Italian dinner is easy here. These are the dog-friendly Italian restaurants in St. Petersburg where the patio genuinely welcomes your pup, not just a stray sidewalk chair, from a Michelin Guide pasta room on Central Avenue to a covered, fire-grill patio out west on 66th Street. Five spots, each one verified open with the dog policy confirmed and the kitchen genuinely Italian. Hours, the neighborhood, price, and what to order are all below.
| Restaurant | Neighborhood | The dog setup | Price | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Il Ritorno | Central Arts District | Two pet-friendly sidewalk tables | $$$ | Sun-Thu 5pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat to 10:30pm |
| Taverna Costale | Downtown (Central Ave) | Dog-friendly patio, has a dog menu | $$$ | Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat later |
| Bonu’ Taverna Italiana | EDGE District | Leashed dogs on the Central Ave patio | $$ | Sun-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat to 10:30pm |
| BellaBrava | Beach Drive | Umbrella-covered patio, dogs welcome | $$ | Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat to 11pm |
| CD Roma | 66th Street North | Covered patio, open-fire grill | $$ | Mon-Wed 11am-9pm, Thu-Sat to 10pm |
Dog-Friendly Italian Restaurants in St. Petersburg
Il Ritorno
Chef David Benstock’s modern Italian room on Central Avenue is the splurge on this list, a Michelin Guide regular where the pasta is the whole point. Two sidewalk tables out front welcome a well-behaved dog, so you can settle the pup while you work through the snow crab tagliatelle or the short rib mezzaluna. It’s dinner only and it fills up, so book the patio ahead rather than chance a walk-in on a weekend.
Taverna Costale
Taverna Costale, the Fabio Viviani concept on the 200 block of Central, is the rare spot that prints an actual menu for dogs, so the pup orders too. The breezy patio faces the street, and inside it’s scratch-made pasta, wood-fired pizza, and dry-aged steaks if you want to go bigger. It plays as both a rustic Italian kitchen and a busy tavern, which makes it an easy call whether you’re after a quick bite outside or a long, loud dinner.
Bonu' Taverna Italiana
Bonu’ brings a Sicilian streak to the EDGE District, an upbeat, slightly cramped bistro up at the 600 block of Central where the patio takes leashed dogs and the crowd skews young. The kitchen runs through wood-fired pizza, fresh pasta, and Mediterranean-leaning small plates, with the arancini worth a start. Grab an outside table on a warm evening, order a glass of something Italian, and let the dog watch Central Avenue go by.
BellaBrava
BellaBrava sits right on Beach Drive across from the Museum of Fine Arts, and its umbrella-covered patio is one of the easiest dog hangs downtown, with shade built in and people-watching in every direction. The kitchen calls itself a New World trattoria, which mostly means handmade pasta and stone-fired pizza next to plates like the pork milanese. It runs a long happy hour, so it works for a late-afternoon drink with the dog as much as a full dinner.
CD Roma
CD Roma is the neighborhood pick out west on 66th Street, away from the downtown crush, with a covered patio that takes dogs and an open-fire grill doing most of the heavy lifting. This is classic, hearty Italian: hand-tossed pizza, baked pastas, chicken specials, and a rotating list of local craft beer. It’s relaxed and family-run, the kind of place where nobody blinks when the dog settles in under the table for the afternoon.
Best for…
Best for a Central Avenue stroll with the dog
Three of these line up along Central, so you can walk the dog from the waterfront end out toward the EDGE District and land on a patio anywhere along the way. Taverna Costale on the 200 block is the all-day option, Il Ritorno at 449 is the dinner splurge, and Bonu’ at 601 is the casual pizza-and-wine stop. Pick by how dressed-up you feel; the dog is welcome at all three.
Best for a date-night dinner
Il Ritorno is the one to book when you want a real dinner with the dog along. It’s a Michelin Guide kitchen, the pasta is made in-house, and the two patio tables go fast, so reserve one rather than show up hoping. Taverna Costale is the livelier runner-up if you’d rather a tavern buzz than a hushed room, and it still does the white-tablecloth plates if you want them.
Best for pizza with your pup
For pizza specifically, CD Roma hand-tosses its pies over an open-fire grill out on 66th Street, and Bonu’ fires Sicilian-leaning pizzas in the EDGE District. Both keep dog-friendly patios and lean casual, so they’re the easy weeknight answer when you just want a pie, a beer, and the dog at your feet.
Frequently asked questions
Can dogs go inside these St. Petersburg Italian restaurants, or only on the patio?
Florida health rules keep dogs out of indoor dining rooms, so every spot here seats dogs on the outdoor patio or sidewalk tables. The good news is that four of the five sit in walkable downtown pockets along Central Avenue and Beach Drive, so the patios are the seats you’d want anyway.
Which dog-friendly Italian spot in St. Petersburg is best for a nicer dinner?
Il Ritorno on Central Avenue is the dressed-up pick, a Michelin Guide kitchen doing modern, pasta-forward Italian, with two patio tables for dogs. Taverna Costale is the strong second if you want something a touch louder, with dry-aged steaks and wood-fired pizza alongside the pasta. Both take reservations, which is the move on a weekend.
Do I need a reservation to bring my dog?
For Il Ritorno, yes. The patio has only two dog-friendly tables and they go quickly, so reserve one. Taverna Costale and BellaBrava both take reservations and have bigger patios, so a quick call ahead on a Friday or Saturday is smart. CD Roma and Bonu’ run more on walk-ins, so you can usually just show up and grab an outdoor table.
Which St. Petersburg neighborhoods have dog-friendly Italian restaurants?
Most cluster downtown: Il Ritorno (Central Arts District), Taverna Costale (the 200 block of Central), Bonu’ (EDGE District), and BellaBrava (Beach Drive) are all within a short walk of each other. CD Roma is the outlier, out west on 66th Street North, which makes it the handy one if you’re not headed downtown.
Does any of these have a menu for dogs?
Taverna Costale does. It prints a small dog menu, so the pup gets its own plate while you eat on the patio. The others don’t go that far, but most will bring a water bowl to an outdoor table without being asked. It’s still worth carrying a collapsible bowl in summer, since St. Pete afternoons heat up fast.
More dog-friendly dining in St. Petersburg
Headed across the bay? See our guide to dog-friendly Italian restaurants in Tampa for the patios on the other side of the water. For more local guides, start at the Restaurants1 home page.
Want a different cuisine? See the complete guide to dog-friendly restaurants in St. Petersburg for every patio in town.
Last updated: May 2026