The Pets Table Review 2023: Will Your Dog Give It Paws Up?

Overview

The Pets Table is a subscription service offering up fresh and air-dried dog food. It was launched by HelloFresh, a favorite meal delivery service of mine. This is a vote of confidence for The Pets Table, as is its use of high high-quality, human-grade ingredients. 

Signing up for The Pets Table is easy. You begin with a simple quiz to figure out the best food for your pup. Once you’re all signed up, you have the flexibility to schedule or reschedule deliveries as you see fit.

While promising, this service has its drawbacks and limitations. For example, it doesn’t have any raw options. If your canine companion prefers raw food, check out our review of We Feed Raw. 

Overall, there’s still a lot to like about The Pets Table. There are many different pet food delivery services on the market, so it’s important to research them all. Read on to learn everything you need to know about The Pets Table!

The Pets Table Meals

I found that The Pets Table sources human-grade ingredients for its pup meals. And it has a decent selection of plans and meals.

Plans and Recipes

The Pets Table’s dog food plans include Fresh, Air-Dried, Mixed, and Half of Fresh. There are 3 Fresh options and 2 Air-Dried options. All 5 recipes are suitable for all ages and life stages of dogs. Here are the recipes:

• Fresh: Chicken Casserole with Green Beans, Beef Stew with Carrots, and Turkey Casserole with Broccoli

• Air-Dried: Chicken & Sweet Potato and Beef & Berries

Fresh dishes are more premium and offer better flavor and nutrients. Air-Dried meals are a healthier twist on traditional kibble. Most popular, though, is the Mixed plan. It’s a budget-friendly combo of both Fresh and Air-Dried meals. The Half of Fresh plan covers half your dog’s calorie needs and is meant to combine with your current dog food.

The service may not be your best bet if your pup suffers from allergies. It produces meals in a facility that processes wheat, eggs, shellfish, mushrooms, and other common allergens. If so, you may find a suitable option by checking out our Best Healthy Dog Food Delivery Services review.

The Pets Table virtually guides you to tailor your dog's meal. Before you buy or do much else, it'll have you take the quiz. You can start the questionnaire from the homepage, Our Products, and How We Make Our Meals pages.

The food personalization questionnaire comprises 6 steps. You can complete the quiz in 2 or 3 minutes. The questions will address your dog’s age in years and months, breed, and size, among other factors.

You'll learn how many calories your dog needs per day once you complete the test. The system will also introduce the next steps you'll need to take. 

You can select only 1 plan for your pet. Check how much it would cost you by day, week, or month. Also, don’t forget to take a 2-week trial box if you get the offer (as I did). 

I scoured the website and its FAQ section to learn who formulates the service’s meals. And I got that info only when I completed the test and was prompted to choose the plan. There, I found out that veterinarians design all of The Pets Table's recipes. 

I find the meal personalization quiz useful, but it's not as comprehensive as some I took. The Farmer's Dog considers many other factors, including your dog's pickiness and potential food sensitivities. The Farmer's Dog is a great alternative if your dog eats fresh food. But if you're after baked or a mix of fresh and baked meals, Ollie would be a better choice. 

Ingredients

The dog food subscription service sources human-grade ingredients for its fresh meals. And I found the info on its website stating that Mixed meals follow suit. What's more, every dish, no matter the plan, meets or tops the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards. And the company whips up its meals in an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) facility. 

You can find various ingredients in your pup's meals, depending on the plan you select. Let's take a quick look at the fresh Turkey Casserole With Broccoli dish, which I find representative.

The meal has many ingredients besides turkey meat, some of which are superfoods. Some of these are broccoli, chickpeas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Don't serve this dish to your dog if it's intolerant to fish. Turkey is great for your pet's gut health. Broccoli may prevent inflammation and is beneficial for overall immunity. This particular meal is also good for your canine's coat. 

The Pets Table states that its recipes contain only health-beneficial foods. It steers clear of fillers, synthetics, and any artificial ingredients that might be of no benefit or even harmful. With this service, your pup gets a meal packed with only natural ingredients.

Nutrition

The company gently cooks its ingredients in a casserole. This method helps retain valuable nutrients that often vanish with high-heat cooking. After cooking, it flash-freezes the meal to seal in the nutrients. As their name implies, Air-Dried dishes are air-dried after processing. Now, let’s take a quick look at the nutritional info of the meal I just reviewed.

Turkey Casserole With Broccoli features a USDA-certified human-grade turkey. Its calorie count is 1,519 kcal/kg, and it features a minimum of 12% of crude protein and 7% of crude fat. It has no more than 1% of crude fiber.

What Makes It Different

One way The Pets Table sets itself apart is its team of expert taste-testers. The service places a lot of value on their practiced palates. Naturally, all of the taste-testers are dogs.

Meal-Testing Dogs

The Pets Table has 3 pups dubbed as chief tasting officers. These furry foodies have quite discerning tongues, ensuring only the yummiest dishes pass their rigorous taste tests.

Unboxing

You'll find an informative brochure under the flaps as you open the box. Once you take it out, you'll see sealed food packages below. A pet food spatula, perfect for dishing out meals, should accompany food. I even found a bib to prevent messy dogs from getting dirty during mealtime. 

My gripe with The Pets Table's packaging is about the environmental impact. Its boxes are curbside recyclable, true. And the insulated liners are crafted from renewable plant-based materials and paper, making them repulpable. But, the downside is that fresh and air-dried packs aren't currently recyclable. 

If you’re eco-conscious, I think you may find Spot & Tango a better choice. Its packaging is fully recyclable once the ice keeping food cold melts away. And you can buy fresh and fresh-dried pet meals from this service. 

Keep The Pets Table's fresh recipes in the refrigerator or the freezer. They'll be safe for serving for up to a week if kept in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer. When transitioning food from the freezer to the fridge, give it 12 hours to thaw. Store air-dried food in a cool, dry spot, seal it up after use, and it should be safe for consumption for the next 6 months. 

Prices

The Pets Table's prices favor pet owners with different budgets. Check out the following table for the cost breakdown. 

Note that the cost per meal is based on a 30-lb dog eating twice a day. Thus, the price could shift depending on your doggo's size and appetite.

I ran a test to check how much a meal would cost for dogs of various sizes. I have a puppy, and I found out that, based on the plan I'd choose, the meal pricing would look like this:  

Then, I took an active 100-lb Rottweiler as an example of a large dog. It turned out that they would need 1,254 calories a day. This is how much an owner of such a canine would pay per meal:

You can pay less if you snag a deal, however. Using our discount, your price per meal may be as low as $1.59 per meal. 

You can pay with a debit or a credit card for The Pets Table’s products. The company accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express cards. You can also pay via your PayPal account. 

The pet food delivery service calculates a delivery fee based on your zip code. When I contacted customer service, they informed me it is $10.99 for most locations. 

The Pets Table doesn't yet offer treats or supplements. I think it should change that since I imagine that many pet owners would find subscribing to different services just to get a few basic products inconvenient. If this is important to you, we also like The Honest Kitchen, which has treats, supplements, toppers, and broths besides dry, dehydrated, and wet dog food in the assortment.

The company covers you with a 100% satisfaction money-back guarantee on the trial box. If it turns out that your pup isn't a fan of the company's meals, or if there's any other hiccup, contact customer support within 30 days post-delivery. You'll get a full refund or account credit, whichever you prefer. 

Shipping & Delivery

The Pets Table delivers dog food to customers in the contiguous US states. Hawaii and Alaska are off its delivery map. The company's shipping partners are FedEx and UPS. I learned during my research for The Pets Table Review that the dog food subscription service's delivery week is from Saturday to Friday. 

You may be able to pick a delivery day, depending on your zip code. If you buy Air-Dried recipes, deliveries roll in from Monday to Friday. But, if you're leaning towards Fresh, Half of Fresh, or Mixed options, the window narrows to between Tuesday and Thursday. Check available delivery days in your account settings. 

The Pets Table delivers dog food weekly. You can reschedule delivery by Wednesday, 11:59 pm CT. Make changes by Sunday, 11:59 pm CT if your shipment arrives on Thursday. You'll get a tracking number when your order hits the road.

How The Pets Table Works

You have to subscribe to buy The Pets Table's pup food. It doesn't offer the guest-shopping option as many other pet food delivery services. The subscription process comes down to taking the meal personalization quiz, with a couple of extra steps.

How to Sign Up

1. Select the Get Started or Start quiz button, depending on the page you’re on. 

2. Complete the questionnaire and select the plan.

3. State your personal info, including your name and address.

4. Choose a delivery day, if applicable. Hit Continue under the price breakdown to complete your purchase. 

5. Enter your preferred payment method.

Managing Your Subscription

Signing up to your account is pretty straightforward. To do so, you need to click on the icon in the top-right corner of the screen. Two options will appear – Settings and Logout. Select Settings to land in the My Account space.

Freshen up your pup’s profile once you're in Settings. Click on Account Settings in the side menu to change your email or password. The Notifications option lets you tweak email reminders or get partner offers. And check past orders via the Order History option. 

Customer Service

I have mixed feelings about my chat experience with The Pets Table's customer service agent. I reached out to check whether the pet food subscription service charges shipping or not. I shot a message via live chat and Cathy provided an answer I didn't quite understand. I asked for clarification and got the following answer: 

A question about payment methods popped up a bit later. I couldn't find any mention of available options by scouring the FAQ section of the website. Cathy responded and addressed my query spot-on from the first attempt this time, or at least it seemed so at this point. 

When I almost completed my purchase later on, I couldn’t find Payoneer among the payment methods. I could only spot credit and debit card options and PayPal. I concluded that The Pets Table doesn't accept Payoneer, and it looks like Cathy missed that part of my question. 

The pet meal subscription service has 2 contact options. These are live chat and a phone call. To initiate a live chat, click on the Contact us link in the header and find a chat bubble at the bottom right corner of the screen. Pick a reason for a chat out of several options to start chatting. Or you can call 929-429-4025. 

I was surprised there wasn't an email option for contact. Every other pet food service I reviewed has it among the available contact options. I think it's often the best choice for pet owners who are busy during daytime work hours when the company's agents are only available. To sum up, I think that The Pets Table should add email to its contact methods.

But, you can get in touch with the customer support team 7 days a week. The company's agents operate from 7 am to 9 pm ET between Monday and Friday. On weekends, you can call or chat with them from 7 am to 7 pm ET. 

The Pets Table Recalls

At the time of writing The Pets Table Review, the company had no recalls.

How The Pets Table Compares to Other Pet Food Services

The Pets Table vs. The Farmer's Dog: The Pets Table is good if you feed your pup dry food or mix fresh and dry meals. In their in-depth review, my colleague praised The Farmer’s Dog for its selection of fresh food. The Farmer's Dog also has a great food personalization quiz, and its high-quality meals are a great value for the money.

The Pets Table vs. Ollie: While The Pets Table is good if you want to blend new food with your dog's current diet, Ollie has a bigger selection of treats and supplements alongside fresh and baked recipes. It has 5 fresh dishes compared to The Pets Table's 3, bringing more variety to your pup's food container. Check out our in-depth Ollie review for a closer look.

The Pets Table vs. Nom Nom: The Pets Table offers more variety in terms of meal types, but Nom Nom has fresh food, as well as pork options. Read our Nom Nom review to see if it’s a better choice for your pooch. It also offers discounts if you have multiple pets!

The Bottom Line: Is The Pets Table Worth It?

The Pets Table is worth considering if you're into fresh or dry food for your furry friend. It also lets you mix its meals or slowly introduce fresh offerings into your dog's current diet. What's more, the service prides itself on using high-quality ingredients and ditching preservatives and satiating but empty fillers.

But The Pets Table doesn't quite match up to some other services. It won't be your best bet if you wish to bundle treats, supplements, and food from one spot. While penning my The Pets Table Review, I noticed its packaging isn't the greenest out there. And although the service offers some customization, there are stronger contenders in the tailored dog food realm.

FAQ

What is The Pets Table’s cost?

The Pets Table's cost varies based on several factors. Some most common ones are the size of the dog, its dietary needs, and the chosen meal plan. The cost per meal for most average-sized and active pups ranges from around 2 to around 3 bucks.

What are The Pets Table’s ingredients?

The Pets Table uses human-grade ingredients to craft dog dishes. It sources animal proteins, vegetables, and fruits that meet or exceed AAFCO standards. Also, it steers clear of worthless fillers, preservatives, and other undesirable by-products.

Is The Pets Table HelloFresh’s?

Yes, HelloFresh launched The Pets Table in August of 2023. The pet food delivery leverages HelloFresh's production expertise and tech infrastructure.