CAMRA’s own listings gave us genuine, verified dog-friendly pubs across most of Merseyside’s towns — though coverage thins out noticeably in Knowsley. Cafés and restaurants are usually a near-total gap in counties we’ve covered, but Merseyside has a genuine exception: Liverpool ONE’s own official dog-friendly business list, one of the best official sources found in this whole project.
Liverpool
Pubs: Dog House, Church Road, Wavertree — dog friendly. Barley Mow, High Street, Wavertree — dog friendly. Endbutt, Endbutt Lane, Crosby — dog friendly (see also Crosby below).
Cafés and restaurants — confirmed via Liverpool ONE’s own official page, a genuine and detailed official source rather than a round-up article. Dogs welcome indoors and out at: Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee (Paradise Street and South John Street), Black Sheep Coffee, BEAN, Mooboo, Byron, Lunya, Joe & The Juice, Cosy Club, Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen & Bar, The Botanist, Trailberg, Loretta’s Parkside Tavern and Bierkeller. Dogs welcome in outdoor seating only at: Barburrito, Browns, Côte, Flight Club, GBK, Pizza Express, Roxy Ballroom, Slim Chickens, Smoke & Dough, Tortilla and Wagamama. Dogs must stay on a lead throughout, and water bowls are placed around the estate in spring and summer. This list is specific to the Liverpool ONE shopping quarter — we couldn’t find an equivalent official list for the Baltic Triangle, Georgian Quarter or Albert Dock, which remain a genuine gap.
Wirral: Birkenhead, Wallasey, New Brighton & Hoylake/West Kirby
Taylor Street Tavern, Birkenhead — dog friendly. Cheshire Cheese, Wallasey Village — dog friendly in the bar (a specific area, not stated for elsewhere). Hawkwinds & Jokerman Micro Pub, Wallasey Village — dog friendly. Hoptimist, Seabank Road, New Brighton — dog friendly. James Atherton (recently renamed George Orwell), Victoria Road, New Brighton — dog friendly. West Kirby Tap, Grange Road — dog friendly. Ship Inn, Market Street, Hoylake — dog friendly. No café or restaurant confirmed anywhere on the Wirral.
Southport
Sinclair’s, Lord Street — dog friendly, with the operator’s own wording: “very dog friendly including giving out doggy treats and use of a dog bowl.” Windmill Inn, Seabank Road — dog friendly. Corridor, Lord Street — dog friendly. Thatch & Thistle (formerly the Blowick), Norwood Road — the beer garden is described as “a dog friendly retreat come rain or shine,” though this doesn’t confirm an indoor policy.
Cafés and restaurants — confirmed via the official Visit Southport tourism board’s own blog post, which names four dog-friendly places to eat and drink: Hickory’s Smokehouse, Southport Market, Coffee King and Sinclair’s Bar (the same pub as above).
Bootle, Crosby & Formby (Sefton)
North Park Tavern, Stanley Road, Bootle — dog friendly, the one solid verified Bootle pub. A trap worth flagging: the “Bootle Arms” that turns up in searches is actually in the village of Melling, not Bootle itself, despite the name — excluded from this list. Endbutt, Crosby — dog friendly (listed above under Liverpool too, since Crosby sits in both our research areas). Cross House Inn, Cross Green, Formby — dog friendly, the one confirmed Formby pub. No café or restaurant confirmed in any of the three towns.
St Helens, Huyton, Prescot & Kirkby (Knowsley)
Cornerstone Inn, Duke Street, St Helens — dog friendly. Tipsy Tap, Ormskirk Street, St Helens — dog friendly. Huyton, Prescot and Kirkby all came back as genuine gaps — no pub we checked in any of the three carried a confirmed CAMRA dog-friendly tag, and no café or restaurant was found either. One geography trap worth knowing: a search for “Kirkby” dog-friendly pubs mostly surfaces Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria — neither is Knowsley’s Kirkby, and both were excluded.
A handful of pubs were excluded after turning up permanently or long-term closed: the Crosby Hotel in Liverpool (housing conversion, 2017), Clock Face Hotel in St Helens (closed since April 2024, future uncertain, despite having its own dog-friendly tag), Hope & Anchor in Prescot (closed since July 2026), and the Farmers Arms in Huyton (demolished).
A busy beer garden full of new smells and other dogs can be a lot for a nervier companion. A calming bite before you set off can help them settle in rather than spend the whole visit on edge. If the anxiety runs deeper than a new environment, that’s a conversation for your vet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which part of Merseyside has the best dog-friendly cafés?
Liverpool ONE, the shopping quarter in Liverpool city centre — its own official page names dozens of dog-friendly cafés and restaurants, split by whether dogs are welcome indoors or outdoor seating only. Southport also has an official tourism-board list.
Is there a dog-friendly pub in Kirkby?
We couldn’t confirm one — a genuine gap. Be careful searching this yourself, since most results surface Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, or Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, neither of which is Knowsley’s Kirkby.
Is the “Bootle Arms” actually in Bootle?
No — despite the name, it’s in the village of Melling, not the town of Bootle. The genuine Bootle pub we confirmed is the North Park Tavern.
For everything else dog-related in Merseyside, see our Dog Services in Merseyside hub — and if your dog’s reactive or just prefers its own space, our guide to Merseyside’s secure dog fields covers the private-hire options.
Written by Georgiana & Figo, who has strong opinions about which pub gardens have the best scraps.
