HS Helsinki | “They drink and have a good time” – it is now common to sit with dogs in restaurants in the Kallio region

The rock the dog Kino sniffs along the third line. The morning is bright as November in Stad usually is: the cheerful gray sky is softened by a refreshing drizzle.

Whippet is not a husky, so Kino doesn’t really seem to appreciate the damp fall weather. It’s on its way to a warm cafe for breakfast.

Cafe Ipi Kulmakuppila, located next to Karhupuisto, is known, among other things, for the fact that people undergoing rehabilitation work there to get used to working life. It was originally also the idea of ​​the cafe.

Kino knows a cafe by its flavors.

“We offer a treat and water to all our dog customers,” says the employee Marja Visti-Koskinen.

“Yes, there are dog thieves here, and you can see it. There are regular customers who pass by and the dog stops here. They are clearly used to visiting here.”

Cinema habitually takes a piece of chicken from Visti-Koskinen’s hand.

“There have never been any problems. I feel like the owners know their dogs. And no one has come to complain,” Visti-Koskinen says.

According to him, half a dozen dogs visit Ipi a day.

“The staff is really funny when the dog comes in sometimes. We have several rehabilitated people at work who need special support. They like dogs very much.”

to Helsinginkatu the smell of fresh bread wafts through. Meli Cafe & Bakery is not the most classic dog cafe with cereal products. Cinema is still welcome. You could get a piece of ham for a euro, but Kino is just spinning now.

“Dogs usually don’t eat very much. Mostly they drink and have a good time,” says the person working at the counter Rosa Kivimäki. Kino mostly enjoys the soft corner seat.

At Harjutor inside the restaurant Harju 8, a loud gasp can be heard from behind the window, as Kino shuffles past outside towards the door.

After Kino enters, the young gentleman kindly asks if it would be possible for Kino to dine on a different side of the restaurant, so that the dogs are not within sight of each other. Kino doesn’t seem to have anything against it.

If it were summer, dessert would also be available: the restaurant’s kitchen prepares its own ice cream for the dogs. The actual meal is, for example, salmon.

It’s not summer, but Kino doesn’t like ice cream either. And it doesn’t need consolation either, because Ipi’s morsels of taste are still good enough for the slender Lord.

Not many other dogs are there to mumble something.

“People often take pictures of dogs here for Instagram,” says the waiter Matthew Whitfield.

Cinema knows the routes and corners of the region. It’s getting dark in the afternoon when the dog runs towards Kurvi. After a few rounds of territory marking, at the corner of the Pääskylänrinne, its speed increases even more.

“Oh, Kino,” exclaims Marjo Keskinen Behind Sörkan Ruusu’s bar counter, a familiar muzzle appears from the door.

Kino responds with a cheer that sounds excited. It bounces up and places its front paws on the edge of the bar counter.

Kino is getting a taste. And maybe friends are coming too.

The taste comes straight away, and you don’t have to wait long for your friends either. For some reason, most of the dog customers tonight are greyhounds, besides Kino there are two whippets, the younger gentlemen Hoppu and Voltti. Familiar group for Kino, as well as female Shae, an English greyhound from Tasmania.

Shae is brave and big, only a year younger than Kino. Hoppu and Volti sniff the older lady, who is however more interested in Kino. Kino doesn’t get worse in his ears.

Kuppilan owner Janne Mäkinen got the idea for a dog-friendly bar fifteen years ago. At the time, he had a Doberman called Bondi, more officially Vagabond.

“Back then, there were very few places you could go with your dog. We often sat with the fans at Stocka.”

Kino also has Stocka experience. When it was young, it accidentally pooped inside.

Ten years ago, Mäkinen founded his own dog-friendly restaurant. It was then that getting dogs into nutrition shops started to become more common anyway.

“The dog people immediately found their way here as well. Hasn’t the number of dogs in Kallio increased more than elsewhere in Helsinki anyway”, Mäkinen reflects.

The number of dogs in general in Helsinki is has been growing even faster than the population for a long time.

Cinema already hurrying towards the last stage, the evening beer. There has been talk in the city that Cafe Talo in Hakaniemi would serve its own beer made from chicken broth for dogs.

However, the staff listens to the request with amazement. There is no such thing on the lists. As people grow louder, Kino flaps his ear.

The chef came to the bar counter for a snack Kenneth Radenovich takes an interest in Kino and asks if he could offer him some chicken. That suits Kino, after all, he has only eaten at three places.

Kino gets a whole plate of food. Radenovich watches with a smile as the chicken disappears into the dog’s muzzle. He misses his own dogs, which he had to leave in his sister’s care in his home country of Peru when he came to Finland.

People at the bar counter wondering if there really are some places in Helsinki that have their own beer for dogs. About Ruoholahti Sanomat it finally turns out that there should be at least two places in Ruoholahti that have their own Vuppe dog beer for dogs: One Pint and Barley & Pint, known for their extensive beer selections.

Ruoholahti does not fall on the route of the Kallion tour, and people are lazy anyway.

Not interested in cinema. Kino is a mouthful.