Pet friendly restaurants

Michael's Genuine is just one of the many dog-friendly restaurants in Miami

Courtesy of Michael's Genuine

Miami's gorgeous weather is perfect for alfresco dining. That means in just about every neighborhood, you'll find outdoor café tables at which to sip wine or coffee with your best friend — even if that friend has a tail.

RewardExpert, an online discount travel service, has released its ranking of the pet-friendliest U.S. vacation destinations for 2017, placing Miami in the overall number three spot, behind Tampa and San Francisco.

Miami did, however, place "best in show" for its ability to cater to a pet's needs, with the most pet stores and veterinarians per capita than any other city listed in the rankings.

The study also revealed Miami has the most pet-friendly restaurants and cafés, with more than 780 eateries that welcome both humans and pooches. RewardExpert notes, "Miami’s 135 days of pleasant weather per year on average will make strolling around and exploring Miami’s bustling culinary scene a great activity to do with your pet."

Of course, that's not really news to Miamians, who pamper their pooches with house-baked cookies at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and enjoy breed-specific beers with their four-legged friends at Lokal.

Ranking cities with more than 300, 000 residents, RewardExpert used three key criteria: pet needs, city profile, and pet recreation. The cities' populations were determined using U.S. Census data.

RewardExpert then scored each city based on ten metrics, including number of pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, dog parks, hiking trails and beaches, vets and pet stores, and even days of good weather. Miami received a score of 79.4 of a possible 100. Overall leader Tampa got a 92.6 rating.