Pet-Friendly Restaurants in Saint-Tropez

The red awnings of Sénéquier have lined the Vieux Port quay since 1887 and the café terrace, with its rows of red bistrot chairs facing the yachts, is one of the most photographed corners of the Riviera. Leashed dogs are routine at the outdoor tables, where the staff treat them as part of the scenery. The kitchen does light Provençal lunches and the patisserie counter still bakes the original tarte tropézienne recipe. The whole point is to sit on the quay, order a rosé, and watch the port traffic.

A blue-and-white seafood institution on the Vieux Port quay since 1953, Le Girelier specialises in plancha-grilled fish straight off the boats. The terrace runs along the quay and leashed dogs are welcomed without fuss at the outdoor tables. The menu is built around bouillabaisse, grilled rouget, daurade, and a long list of Côtes-de-Provence rosés. Indoors is air-conditioned and dressed-up; the terrace is where you want to be with a dog and a view of the bobbing yachts.

The original house of the tarte tropézienne, the cream-filled brioche invented by Polish baker Alexandre Micka in 1955 and named at the suggestion of Brigitte Bardot during the filming of Et Dieu créa la femme. The Place aux Herbes salon sits beside the daily morning market and runs a small shaded terrace where leashed dogs are welcome. The menu is breakfast, light savoury lunches (croque-monsieur, salades, sandwiches), and of course the eponymous tarte in two sizes.

Facing the plane-tree-shaded Place des Lices where the pétanque players gather every afternoon, Le Café (formerly Café des Arts) is the unpretentious locals' table in central Saint-Tropez. The terrace under the plane trees accommodates leashed dogs without comment and the view onto the boules pitch is half the entertainment. The kitchen does Provençal bistrot fare: pissaladière, daube, grilled lamb, panna cotta. Cheaper and friendlier than the harbour terraces.

On the southern sweep of Pampelonne in Ramatuelle, La Plage des Jumeaux is the family-friendly beach club of the strip and one of the few that openly welcomes dogs at the lunch terrace. Tables are set in the pine shade right behind the sand, the menu is Mediterranean (grilled fish, pasta, salads, plenty of rosé) and water bowls appear without asking. The beach club itself does not admit dogs on the lounger section, but the dining terrace is unrestricted.