Farmingdale Restaurant Set To Welcome Dogs To Dinner Again

FARMINGDALE, NJ — With the warm weather returning, there are lots of folks who like to get out and take their dogs with them — for car rides, walks and even for a bite to eat.

At Woody's Roadside Tavern, grabbing a bite to eat with your dog doesn't mean grabbing a couple of burgers to go: your furry pal is welcomed to join you, in the restaurant's picnic area.

"We started doing it late last summer," said Rob Johnson, one of the owners of Woody's. "It was really popular, so we decided to bring it back this year."

The outdoor area has about a dozen picnic tables, he said, and Woody's will bring bowls of water for the four-legged customers while their owners are enjoying a beverage of their own.

"We have everything you need," Johnson said, and that includes bags to clean up after dogs who do their business.

"We've always had people bringing their service dogs," said Johnson, who is a dog lover; he and his fiancee have three Yorkshire terrier mixes, two of them rescues. "We had four but one passed away. She was 14 years old and she was my fiancee's little girl. We'll probably rescue another one soon."

There are rules: people must clean up after their dogs, and all dogs in the picnic area must be leashed.

"There can't be dogs running wild," he said.

"We're always looking for ways to grow the business, and people are very passionate about their pets," Johnson said.

And he and his other co-owners, Chris Maltese and Jennifer Knapp, enjoy seeing the furry friends.

"It's all weather-dependent," Johnson said, but if there's a nice day and someone wants to bring their dog, they will accommodate them in the picnic area.

This isn't the first time Woody's has responded to its customers' wants: the restaurant made national headlines in the fall when it stopped showing NFL games on Sundays amid the controversy over NFL players kneeling in during the national anthem. That continued through the Super Bowl this year.

Woody's is located at 105 Academy Street in Farmingdale and is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. the rest of the week

Photo provided by Rob Johnson