FT Local Kitchen and Bar

FT Local Kitchen and Bar is a neighbourhood pub at 40 Forest Road in Ferntree Gully, built around wood-fired style pub food, craft beers and a relaxed back beer garden that is the dog-friendly zone. It is a low-key local where dogs are part of the routine rather than an exception.

The dog setup

Dogs head straight to the spacious beer garden out the back; indoors stays people-only. Staff are accommodating with pets and will usually bring out a water bowl and help you find space to settle your dog beside the table. Keep the leash on and steer clear of the service path to the kitchen, and pick a corner table on live music nights if your dog is noise sensitive.

Worth knowing

The menu leans into pub favourites done well: burgers, buffalo wings, sweet potato fries and a Mexican parma that locals single out, with regular happy hour and the occasional live act. Hours run from 4pm Tuesday to Thursday, midday Friday to Sunday, closed Monday. Weekend lunch is the quietest window in the garden; Friday and Saturday nights bring the crowd and the volume.

Getting there and parking

The venue sits on Forest Road with free on-site parking plus street parking nearby, and Ferntree Gully railway station is an easy walk if you would rather leave the car. From the station, head south-east on Station Street and turn onto Forest Road.

Close by with the dogs

Work up an appetite first: the Knox Park fenced dog park down Ferntree Gully Road runs a full agility course, and Tim Neville Arboretum at 98 Dorset Road does on-lead boardwalk loops past the duck lake. If the garden is packed, the Ferntree Gully Hotel is the fallback pub nearby.

More options are on the VIC dog friendly restaurants guide and the Ferntree Gully destination page.

Max: agility session at Knox Park, then a corner table in the beer garden and wings.