Pet-Friendly Restaurants in Menton

Mauro Colagreco's three-Michelin-star restaurant overlooking the Italian border is one of the most celebrated tables in Europe, with terraced gardens descending towards the sea and a menu organised around the lunar calendar. Small, well-behaved dogs are accepted on the upper terrace at the discretion of the maître d'hôtel, declare your dog at booking. The experience is long, expensive and exceptional. Even with a dog at your feet, the staff treat the visit as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

On the Place aux Herbes, one of the prettiest small squares in the old town, Le Cirke runs a long, shaded terrace under plane trees where leashed dogs are a regular sight. The menu is Mediterranean and Mentonnais: pasta with pistou, grilled fish, tarte au citron de Menton. The setting, between baroque facades and the climb up to the basilica, is exactly the Menton experience you came for. Service is unhurried and locals come for lunch.

A bistrot on the pedestrian Rue Saint-Michel that runs from the seafront up towards the old town. The terrace spills onto the cobbled street and leashed dogs are welcomed without comment. The kitchen does classic Mentonnais and Italian-influenced dishes: barbajuans as starter, tagliatelles aux gambas, daube niçoise. The street is fully pedestrianised so the terrace is calm despite being central. Convenient stop between a morning at the market and an afternoon at the Bastion-musée Jean Cocteau.

Facing the Jardins Biovès where the Fête du Citron sculptures are built every February, this bistrot has a shaded pavement terrace from which you can watch the gardens and the kids' rides while you eat. Dogs on leash are routine. The menu is unfussy: salade niçoise, beef tartare, grilled fish, plat du jour at lunch. It is the locals' lunch place, not a tourist trap, and the value is good for central Menton.

On the quay of the Vieux Port, looking up at the orange and ochre facades of the old town climbing towards Saint-Michel, this is the postcard view of Menton. The brasserie operates an open-air terrace right on the water and leashed dogs are welcome at any of the outdoor tables. The food is classic seafront fare: oysters from the Étang de Thau, grilled daurade, moules frites, plateaux de fruits de mer. The setting at sunset, with the old town glowing pink, is the point.