pooch-friendly places

The Salem area adores dogs, and many places happily welcome the fuzzy, four-legged travelers in your family. Whatever your pup’s size and energy level, we have a place where they can roam free and score treats.

STAY: DOG-FRIENDLY HOTELS

Just south of downtown Salem, the Best Western Plus Mill Creek Inn caters to dogs and their owners with a bunch of wag-worthy amenities. The Oregon Garden Resort, located on the edge of Silverton, hosts a slate of pup-friendly rooms, and you can take your dog with you to the nearby Oregon Garden. Southwest of Salem, The Independence Hotel in downtown Independence offers easy access to both the Willamette River Trail and the 2-acre Independence Community Dog Park.

PLAY: DOG PARKS

At more than 1,200 acres, Salem’s Minto-Brown Island Park is packed with adventures for you and a 30-acre unfenced dog park where your pooch can run free. Nestled at a bend in the Willamette River, the 148-acre Keizer Rapids Park offers a disc-golf course, a multiuse path and an off-leash dog park. The dog park includes two covered shelters for rainy days and separate areas for pups of all sizes.

WALK: DOG-FRIENDLY HIKES

In addition to its off-leash dog park, Minto-Brown Island Park’s 29 miles of hiking trails are open to leashed pets. Leashed pets are also welcome on the nearly 15 miles of trails at Willamette Mission State Park, north of Salem. Silver Falls State Park, east of Salem, offers roughly 35 miles of less-traveled trails that welcome leashed pets. Head to the off-leash South Falls day-use area if your pup has any energy left after your hike.

SIT AND SIP: DOG-FRIENDLY WINERIES

With so many tasting rooms to explore in the area, it’s no surprise that many welcome well-behaved pups. With four estate vineyards, Salem’s Cristom Vineyards welcomes leashed dogs to its outdoor areas for an afternoon in the sun. In South Salem, Cória Estates boasts a spacious grassy area — perfect for enjoying views of the Willamette Valley with your pooch. At Monmouth’s Airlie Winery,

Rocky and Piper are the resident Irish setters and might whisk your dog away for a splash in the on-site pond. Keeler Estate Vineyard in Amity takes its pet-friendly policies to a new level with a “Pinot & Puppies” add-on for its wine club members.

TREATS: PUP-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS

Salem has a bevy of pooch-welcoming eateries. In South Salem, Gilgamesh Brewing serves handcrafted beers and locally sourced eats on its creek-side patio. The nearby Tsunami Taproom has 30 rotating taps of beer and cider, a laid-back vibe, and an outdoor patio where your dog is sure to get pets and maybe a chicken finger or two. Meat eaters, vegans and their pups are all welcome at Venti’s South Cafe + Taphouse. For a taste of the world, Beehive Station is a dog-friendly outdoor gathering space where food trucks offer everything from Baja-style fish tacos to Russian piroshkis.

SALEM’S CRAVE-WORTHY FOOD SCENE

Salem is a tantalizing melting pot of local and global flavors and culinary talents that are both well-seasoned and lesser-known.

Chef Sam Woodward at Salem’s Masonry Grill deftly combines Italian and American staples to build a menu of crowd pleasers with a twist. The restaurant’s wood and copper backdrop makes it easy to kick back with friends over a guacamole burger with queso fresco and crispedto-perfection waffle fries or, in a nod to Woodward’s Italian-fusion chops, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Wash it down with a beer from one of the 16 taps.

A few blocks east, Happy Bibimbap House is a local favorite for authentic Korean fare. Walk in and you’re welcomed with small bowls of kimchi and pickled vegetables — you get five side dishes on the house (try the scallion pancakes) — and it just gets better from there. The kimchi-jjigae (kimchee stewpot) is perfectly fermented, and the dolsot bibimbap (hot stone bowl of vegetables with egg yolk) hits the spot. In addition to the edible goodness, the good-hearted owners close Mondays to deliver food to the homeless.

If street tacos and doughy churros are your thing, make your way to the locally owned Mexican food carts along Salem’s Portland Road Northeast. Any item with charbroiled meat is a win at Los Peques Taqueria. The owner of the Birrieria La Capital cart, Jose Gonzalez, stews up an exceptionally flavorful birria sauce and serves it in all shapes and forms — as bowls, tacos and ramen dishes. For dessert, Don Bigote Churreria serves churros 11 different ways, including as an ice-cream sandwich. About 15 minutes southwest of Salem, The Valkyrie Wine Tavern’s menu in Independence is as eclectic as the small town where it’s located. Owned by wine connoisseur Savannah Pearce and Louisiana-native chef Lindsay Darling, the food menu pulls inspiration from Southern classics and includes fried frogs’ legs tossed with tangy red chili butter, and the deep-fried game hen with a crackling crust is a hit. On the wine side, Pearce’s by-theglass list is a mash-up that showcases Independence’s own Redgate Winery

Less than 30 miles north of Salem off Oregon Highway 99E, Filbert’s Farmhouse Kitchen takes American comfort food to the next level. Located in historic Aurora and adjacent to an original 1865 farmhouse, the menu focuses on local products and farmhouse dishes like scratch-made meatloaf, pork chops and cornbread.

MEET SALEM’S ARTISAN MAKERS

Where can you find traditional Oaxacan cheese, Czech-inspired kolaches, locally grown organic tea and sustainable handcrafted soaps? Right here — the Salem area is home to culinary crafters and innovative artisans galore.

Salem’s talent pool gained a noteworthy new addition in 2020 with the opening of the family-owned Don Froylan Creamery. Previously based in Albany, Don Froylan’s Mexican cheeses have been winning awards since 2011, but the custom-built cheese factory in Salem has allowed owner and head cheesemaker Francisco Ochoa to expand with a tasty quesadilla and nacho bar, along with flavorful meats and condiments.

Rob Miller and John Vendeland are the artisans behind one of Oregon’s only dedicated tea farms: Salem’s Minto Island Tea Company. Each of Minto’s certified organic teas is grown, handpicked and processed at the company’s farm. Each package is also labeled when it’s harvested, so aficionados can explore the flavor subtleties unique to each season. You can buy tea and get information about farm tours on their website.

Sweetly Baked owner Christine Mathews fell in love with Czech-inspired kolaches while traveling and decided to put them on her Salem bakeshop’s menu. A kolach is a pillowy pastry made with yeasted dough and filled with savory or sweet fillings. Mathews offers

Profile The Ochoa Family

When Don Froylan Ochoa and his family moved to Oregon in the late 1990s and couldn’t find authentic Mexican cheese, they decided to make their own. The Don Froylan Creamery was born in the family’s home kitchen with 10 gallons of milk a day and endless hard work. Today head cheesemaker Francisco Ochoa, who is Don Froylan’s son, is one of the few large-scale Latino cheese producers in the state. The creamery produces queso fresco in several varieties, it has a retail shop and small cafe, and it stretches over 6,000 pounds of Oaxacan cheese every week. Ochoa still uses his family’s original recipes and the cheesemaking techniques that his father taught him. (DonFroylanCreamery.com) a set menu of 16 flavor combinations ranging from breakfast kolaches filled with egg and ham to sweet kolaches filled with strawberry and cinnamon-spiced cream cheese.

Considering the hazelnut is Oregon’s official state nut and grows on 80,000 acres throughout the region, Aurora-based Pacific Hazelnut Farms is a can’t-miss if you’re craving an authentic taste of the Mid-Willamette Valley. The factory has a retail store where visitors can taste-test before they stock up on beautifully packaged boxes of roasted, seasoned, chocolate-covered and candied hazelnuts.

Family-run Melting Pot Candy is a small-town chocolate shop that handcrafts big-city candy. Located in an 1895 storefront on Independence’s Main Street, the shop creates tantalizing chocolates and truffles. The family-recipe toffee is a must-try and comes in tempting combinations like cinnamon-pecan milk chocolate and white-chocolate cashew.

The region’s artisanal streak isn’t limited to edibles either. For over a decade, Salem’s SLAB Handcrafted Soap Company has been taking an eco-friendly approach to soapmaking. SLAB starts with locally sourced palm, coconut and olive oil; those oils are then mixed by hand, poured and cut on-site; and prepared for sale in plasticfree packaging.

5 Top Spots For All Appetites

VEGAN/VEGETARIAN

Venti’s Cafe is a go-to spot for all mindful eaters, keeping gluten-free and vegan diners happy with plant-based dishes like a Hawaiian tempeh rice bowl, a lentilmushroom burger and vegan-chorizo street tacos. Find them downtown and in South Salem. For carnivores, they also serve wild-caught fish and hormone-free and humanely raised meats.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY

Best Little Roadhouse offers the ultimate pre-or post-meal entertainment for the little ones: an 18-hole mini-golf course. Complete with lush greens and water features, the course is a kids’ favorite, and the top-notch burgers, sandwiches and house-smoked barbecue are extra tasty on the covered outdoor patio.

DOG-FRIENDLY

Beehive Station in South Salem is where pups go to socialize while their humans tuck into some of the tastiest food-cart eats around. Find authentic Russian, Hawaiian, Japanese, Thai, Filipino and Indian fare, plus barbecue, sliders and local craft beer on tap. Covered tables keep it cool in the sunshine — don’t forget a water dish for Fido.

HAPPY HOUR

Cecilia Ritter James and her sister, Jessica Ritter Champion, created downtown’s Wild Pear menu with a focus on showcasing the bounty from local farmers and ranchers. For happy hour, try the crispy brussels sprouts with a seasonal beverage like the autumnal Wild Pear Toddy, served with Salem-based Divine Distillers’ pear brandy, lemon and pear juices, ginger-honey tea, and warm spices.

GROUP-FRIENDLY

When no one can agree on one place to eat, head over to The Yard Food Park in East Salem. With 17 food carts encircling an indoor, year-round dining space, the team can choose anything from tacos and pizza to funnel cakes and “fronuts” — frozencream-filled doughnuts — for dessert. A bar and kids’ play area truly make it a onestop foodie destination.

Outdoor Patios

Salem’s bars and restaurants are home to a number of standout patios. Some are ideal for warm weather while others include coverings, toasty heaters and fire pits for hanging out during cooler temps, too.

Downtown across from City Hall, Basil & Board’s modern rooftop patio is the only one in Salem. Come for their afternoon social hour and pair a pinot gris with an artisanal brick-fired pizza. Both the downtown and West Salem Azuls Taco House beckon with pillowy handmade tortillas and laid-back outdoor patios. The downtown location pairs their craft-taco lineup with La Familia’s distinctive hard ciders.

Gilgamesh Brewing has three locations in the area, all of them with stellar patio situations. The flagship South Salem location sits on 3 acres and has an enclosed heated patio. If you listen, you can hear the gurgle of nearby Pringle Creek as you wash down your burger with an award-winning IPA. The West Salem location offers a covered patio with a fire pit, and Gilgamesh in Independence has a covered patio and space heaters. On the rooftop of the Independence Hotel, Territory restaurant is an outdoor dining hot spot. Bask in the sun with views of the Willamette River while dining on steak frites and an elegant old-fashioned cocktail.

Grab a seat on the covered patio at Silverton’s Silver Falls Brewery and wash down your locally sourced craft pint with a Pacific Northwest fusion menu created with locally grown ingredients. Enjoy the fire pits and fresh air, and be sure to fill up your growler before you go.

When it’s wintry outside, Monmouth’s Crush Wine Bar keeps it cozy under their new heated outdoor tent with festive lights and a fire pit. Choose your favorite Willamette Valley sparkling wine, or order a wine flight to sample a few.