Midtown dog owners have a new place to hang out with their four-legged friends. Meet Barkley’s, the area’s newest bar.
Located in the former Irish Cowboy/Celtic Gardens space at 2300 Louisiana St., Barkley’s is a patio bar with a twist — an expansive, fully fenced-in dog park divided into sections for both large and small dogs. The turf-covered park even features a mural by local artist Donkeeboy.
Operating partner Matt Stephen tells CultureMap that he and his partners originally planned another concept for the space, but the team of bar industry veterans soon realized the neighborhood would likely embrace a dog park with drinks.
“There’s 7,000 units within walking distance; [approximately] 60 percent have dogs. No one has a yard,” he says. “We’ll become the yard for the neighborhood. Come by, have a few drinks, let the dogs run around.”
Before letting the dogs run around, owners will sign a waiver accepting responsibility for their pets’ behavior. Aggressive dogs will be asked to leave immediately. So far, everything’s going smoothly.
“Yesterday for the soft opening, we had 50 or 60 people come through,” Stephen says. “Everybody was smiling. Everybody had their cameras out. Everybody was taking pictures.”
While the dogs run around, the humans can sip on 12 specialty cocktails — named with dog puns and references, natch — such as the Royal Corgi (gin, lemon juice, butterfly-lavender syrup, edible glitter) and the Gone to the Dogs that comes with an extra scoop of peanut butter to share with your pup. Irish Cowboy’s extensive tap wall remains with a broad selection of both local and national brews.
When the kitchen gets going in another week or two, it will serve a selection of burgers, hot dogs, and shareables. Canines get their own food options, including an unseasoned cheeseburger patty served with rice and cheese.
Barkley’s will open at 4 pm through the weekend for a soft opening, but will ultimately be open daily from 11 am-2 am. Happy hour (weekdays from 11 am - 7 pm) features $5 pours of Deep Eddy and Jack Daniels, $4 wells, $5 wells, and $3.50 cans of domestic beer, and $4.50 cans of import beer.
Local artist Donkeeboy painted a mural.
