Barking Dog North Hills
Rating
Family of 4
Plan on roughly $70 to $110 for two adults and two kids without alcohol.
Duration
1 to 1.5 hours for a full meal. This is a sit down restaurant with table service rather than a counter, so budget accordingly: plan on about an hour for brunch or lunch and closer to 90 minutes for dinner with drinks. The trick with kids is what happens on either side of the meal. Barking Dog sits inside the Park District at North Hills, so you can walk the district before or after and turn a one hour lunch into a comfortable three hour outing without ever getting back in the car.
Best Ages
Works from toddler on up, with the sweet spot around 4 to 14. Two things make it manageable with young kids: there is a kids menu, which the restaurant asks you to request from your server rather than printing on the main menu, and there is an enclosed outdoor patio where a wiggly four year old is far less of a problem than at an interior table. All day availability of breakfast items is the other quiet win, because a picky seven year old who only wants pancakes can get them at 6 p.m. Tweens and teens do well here since the menu runs to burgers, sandwiches, wraps and full dinner plates rather than kid food. Infants are welcome as diners' companions but there is nothing here for them, and we cannot confirm changing table facilities.
About
Barking Dog sits in the Park District at North Hills in midtown Raleigh, and it earns a place in a family activities directory for three specific reasons rather than because the food is good, though at a 4.5 star average across roughly 470 Google reviews it clearly is.
Reason one is the patio. The restaurant has an enclosed outdoor patio that guests use for dining with their dogs, and that combination solves the two hardest problems of eating out with young kids at once. Outside means a wiggly toddler is not a disruption.
Dogs mean a four year old has something to watch that is better than any tablet. If you have a dog of your own, this is one of the easy places in Raleigh to bring the whole household along.
Reason two is the all day menu. Barking Dog serves breakfast, lunch and dinner plates through the day: omelets and frittatas, eggs Benedict, pancakes, shakshuka on the brunch side, and burgers, salads, sandwiches, wraps and full dinner plates like fish and chips, shepherd's pie and steak frites on the other. For a family, this is the difference between negotiating with a child at 6 p.
m. and simply ordering the pancakes. Menu items and prices change, so pull the current menu from the restaurant's OpenTable page before you plan around a specific dish.
Reason three is where it is. North Hills is a walkable outdoor district with parking garages, wide sidewalks and a lot to look at, and North Hills Park with its playground is close by. That means you can build a real three hour outing around a one hour meal without getting back in the car: walk the district, let kids run at the playground, eat, walk again.
A restaurant that is easy to reach on foot from other things is worth more to a family than one that is marginally better on its own.
A few honest notes. The kids menu exists but is not printed on the main menu, so ask your server for it, which is the sort of thing worth knowing before your child orders a $19 entree. This is a full service restaurant with a full bar rather than a fast casual counter, so plan on an hour to 90 minutes at the table and reserve through OpenTable for weekend brunch, which is the busiest stretch of the week.
We cannot confirm changing table facilities or high chair availability, so call (919) 594-1348 if either is essential for your visit.
Budget roughly $70 to $110 for four without alcohol, less at brunch, more if you order drinks and appetizers. Parking in the North Hills garages is the standard free option for diners, which keeps the meal itself the whole cost of the outing.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Yes
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Available
Setting
Indoor & Outdoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday late morning around 11 a.m., or early dinner before 6 p.m., are the easy windows with kids. Weekend brunch is the busiest stretch, roughly 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and that is when you want a reservation rather than a hopeful walk in. If the patio is the reason you are coming, and with kids it probably should be, aim for a mild spring or fall day and ask for patio seating when you book. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner plates through the day, so you are not locked into a narrow window the way you are at a breakfast only spot. Confirm current hours before you go.
Wait Times
Reserve and the wait is essentially zero. Barking Dog takes reservations through OpenTable, which is the single best move for a family meal here. Without one, expect a 20 to 40 minute wait during peak weekend brunch and on Friday and Saturday evenings, and close to no wait on a weekday at 11 a.m. or 5 p.m. Patio tables are the most requested seats and go first on nice days, so ask for one when you book rather than at the host stand.
Nearby Food
Barking Dog is itself the destination here, but the Park District at North Hills gives you plenty of fallbacks within a few minutes on foot, including Chuy's directly across from the restaurant and a broad range of casual and quick service restaurants, coffee shops and dessert spots throughout the district. That density is genuinely useful with kids: if the wait is long or the menu does not land with your crowd, you can change plans without moving the car. Check current hours for anything you are counting on, since individual North Hills tenants change and some close between lunch and dinner.
Why Kids Love It
Dogs. The place is named for them and it is genuinely dog friendly, with an enclosed patio where people dine with their dogs, which for a lot of kids is better entertainment than any crayon set. Beyond that, the all day menu means a kid who wants pancakes at dinner or a burger at 11 a.
m. gets what they actually want, and eating outside in the middle of a busy district gives them people watching, string lights and space to be a kid without a hundred quiet diners glaring.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Ask your server for the kids menu. Barking Dog keeps it off the printed menu, so if you do not ask, you end up ordering a $19 entree for a six year old who wanted a grilled cheese.
- Book the patio through OpenTable, not at the door. The enclosed patio is the best seat in the house with kids and it is also the most requested, so reserve it and note that you want outdoor seating.
- Bring the dog if you have one. The patio is used by guests dining with their dogs, which turns a meal into an event for kids. Confirm current pet policy when you book, since restaurant rules can change.
- Order breakfast at dinner. The all day menu means eggs, pancakes and omelets are available outside the morning, which is the single most useful fact here for a family with a picky eater.
- Park once and walk. North Hills is a walkable outdoor district with garages, so plan the meal as the middle of a longer visit rather than a stop you drive to and from.
- Pair it with North Hills Park. The playground nearby gives you a free half hour to burn off restaurant stillness, which is what makes a sit down meal work with a four year old.
What to Bring
- A reservation on your phone, since OpenTable is the fastest path to a table
- A small quiet activity for the table, such as stickers or a sketchbook
- Wipes and a diaper kit, since we cannot confirm changing facilities
- A light layer for each kid if you are sitting on the patio
- A stroller or carrier, which the walkable North Hills district handles easily
- A snack in your bag for the walk over, so nobody arrives desperate
- Comfortable shoes for walking the district before or after the meal
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Plan on roughly $70 to $110 for two adults and two kids without alcohol.
The menu runs from brunch plates in the mid teens to dinner entrees in the upper teens through upper twenties, with kids ordering from the children's menu, so brunch lands at the lower end of that range and a full dinner with appetizers and drinks at the upper end.
Menu pricing at North Hills changes, so confirm the current menu on the restaurant's OpenTable page or by calling (919) 594-1348 before you set a budget.
Parking in the North Hills garages is the standard free option for diners, so check posted signage and validation rules but do not expect to pay much, if anything, for parking.
Tips to Save
- Ask for the kids menu, because it is not printed on the main menu and a child ordering off the regular dinner list is the quickest way to double your tab.
- Come at brunch or lunch instead of dinner if the goal is a nice meal out for less, since the same kitchen and the same patio cost noticeably less before evening.
- Skip the full bar and drink water, which at a restaurant with a real cocktail program is the biggest single line item you control.
- And build the free part of the day around the meal: the Park District at North Hills is a walkable outdoor district, and North Hills Park nearby has a playground, so an hour of free outdoor time on either side of lunch means you are not paying for entertainment on top of food.
