Eating Out

Eating Out in Sweden with Your Pet

Café and restaurant culture around dogs, the food-hygiene rule that actually governs it, and the one Gothenburg restaurant with its own dog menu.

EU hygiene rules keep animals out of kitchens and prep areas, but a supervised dog in the dining area is generally treated as low risk.
Fika — a daily coffee-and-pastry break — is a social ritual, and outdoor café seating is the easiest place to bring a dog.
Refusing a trained assistance dog can count as discrimination under Sweden’s Discrimination Act.

Guides in this topic

3 guides · updated October 2026

Dog-Friendly Cafés & Restaurants
Swedish food-hygiene guidance keeps animals out of kitchens and prep areas, but treats a well-controlled dog in a customer area as low risk — which is why many cafés and restaurants welcome them.
Assistance Dogs & the Discrimination Act
A different, stronger right than an ordinary pet's: refusing a guide or assistance dog can count as discrimination under Swedish law, not just a food-hygiene judgment call.
Fika & Outdoor Dining with a Dog
Fika — Sweden's coffee-and-cake break — leans heavily on outdoor seating in the warmer months, which tends to be the easiest place to bring a dog along.