🐾 Pet-Themed Restaurant
🎟️ ₹200 Entry fee (redeemable on food)
🐩 Small Pets Only (pets on premises)
Twisty Tails is Chennai's pet-themed restaurant on Khader Nawaz Khan Road in Nungambakkam , a place where you come to eat, but stay for the animals. The restaurant houses resident Shih Tzu-type dogs and Persian cats that guests can interact with during their meal, making it a genuinely different kind of dining experience in the city. The ₹200 entry fee is fully redeemable against your food order, so you're essentially paying nothing extra to spend time with the animals. For anyone in Chennai who has wanted the pet café experience without flying to Tokyo or Seoul, this is as close as it gets , and it's been pulling in regulars, families, and first-timers in equal measure.
✓ Verified by the Pet Friendly Places team
The restaurant confirms that only small pets are allowed on the premises. The ₹200 per person entry fee applies to all visitors and is adjustable against food orders. Dogs and cats are resident animals on-site , not visiting pets. Visitors can also purchase pet treats for around ₹50 to feed the animals directly.
The Setting
Twisty Tails occupies a dedicated indoor space on Khader Nawaz Khan Road, one of Nungambakkam's busier commercial stretches in Tamil Nadu. The interior is designed specifically around the animal experience: bold blue walls hand-painted with line-art dogs, an indoor turf play area, and a layout that lets the resident animals move freely among the tables. This isn't a regular restaurant with a dog in the corner , the animals are the centrepiece, and the furniture, décor, and floor plan are all built around making interaction natural and comfortable for both guests and the resident pets.
Several small-breed Shih Tzu-type dogs roam the space freely during service. Persian cats are also resident on the premises, typically occupying their own areas of the restaurant. The animals are described by multiple reviewers as well-kept, sociable, and accustomed to guests , which matters, because an anxious or poorly socialised animal makes the whole experience awkward for everyone. That doesn't appear to be the case here. The space has also been praised for its cleanliness and maintenance, which is a real threshold question for any restaurant that houses live animals indoors.
The Experience
Twisty Tails is a pet café-restaurant hybrid , the draw isn't just the food, it's spending an hour on the floor with a lapful of Shih Tzus. The indoor turf area is where most of the animal interaction happens, and guests can move between sitting at their table and spending time on the floor with the dogs. For anyone who doesn't currently own a pet, or who misses having animals around, there's something genuinely restorative about that kind of unstructured time with a small dog who has no agenda whatsoever.
Pet treats are available for purchase at the counter at around ₹50, allowing you to feed the resident animals directly. Reviewers , particularly those who visited with children , consistently flag this as a standout moment. Kids who might otherwise be fidgety through a restaurant meal are suddenly deeply invested in coaxing a Shih Tzu to take a treat from their hand. It's a small detail that changes the shape of the whole visit.
The cuisine spans Italian, Indian, fast food, and European, with both lunch and dinner service available. The restaurant is described by multiple visitors as reasonably priced for what it offers, and the food quality holds up well enough that the meal doesn't feel like an afterthought to the animal experience. It's a women-owned business, which is worth noting, and it accepts reservations , strongly recommended for weekends. Payment options are comprehensive: UPI, credit and debit cards, and NFC mobile payments are all accepted.
Pet Policy , Know Before You Go
This is the most important distinction for pet parents considering a visit: Twisty Tails is a restaurant with resident animals, not a restaurant where you bring your own dog or cat to dine alongside you. Only small pets are permitted on the premises, and the animals confirmed as being here are the restaurant's own , Shih Tzu-type dogs and Persian cats. If you're planning to bring your own pet, call ahead on 090922 58887 before visiting. The listed policy specifies small pets only, and it remains unclear whether guest-owned pets are welcome alongside the resident animals or whether the policy applies only to the resident population.
The ₹200 entry fee per person is the key structural thing to understand: it is charged on arrival and is fully redeemable against your food order. If you order a meal , which most people do , the entry effectively costs you nothing. What the fee does is create a structured visit rather than an open drop-in: you're not just walking past a restaurant dog on your way to a table, you're committing to a sit-down experience with the animals as part of the deal. That framing actually improves the experience , it keeps the space from being overrun and ensures the animals aren't constantly being introduced to a rotating stream of strangers.
Whether the ₹200 entry applies to children as well as adults hasn't been confirmed at the time of listing , worth asking when you call or book.
Who This Is For
Twisty Tails works best for families with young children, couples looking for a genuinely different lunch or dinner in Chennai, and anyone who wants structured, calm time with animals in a clean indoor environment. Multiple reviewers specifically call out how much kids enjoy the interaction , particularly the treat-feeding moment. The restaurant is also equipped for birthday parties and group dining, and the space has been described as suitable for small celebrations. If you're organising a party for a child who loves animals, this is a fairly obvious fit.
Accessibility at Twisty Tails is notably good: wheelchair-accessible entrance, car park, seating, and toilets are all confirmed , not something every Chennai restaurant can claim. Parking is available in both free and paid lot formats, with valet also on offer, which takes a lot of the stress out of visiting a busy area like Nungambakkam. The restaurant accepts reservations, so booking ahead , especially for weekend visits or group dining , is the right move.
For pet owners specifically: even if you can't bring your own dog, there's real value in a visit here. Spending time with well-socialised resident animals in a clean, low-stress setting is its own kind of experience , and for people who love animals but can't currently keep a pet, Twisty Tails fills a gap that very few places in Chennai do.
What We Haven't Confirmed Yet
The property website was not available at the time of listing. A few details worth confirming directly before your visit: whether guests may bring their own small dogs alongside the resident animals; current opening hours and days of operation; and whether the ₹200 entry fee applies to children as well as adults. Call the restaurant on 090922 58887 or check their Google listing for the most current information before making a trip.
