Who needs Disney World when you have a bar made for dogs? Thanks to Paul Jaszczenski and Lainie Pekich, locals and visitors in Orlando, Fla. will have a new fantasy land to visit: Boozehounds, a dog park and bar slated to open in summer 2019.
Boozehounds is the brainchild of co-founders Jaszczenski and Pekich, whom, after adopting their German Shepard Kaia, found that fun, dog-friendly pubs were hard to come by. Plus, trying to fit Kaia into people places was ruff.
“Even when we did find a restaurant, Kaia wasn’t happy stuck under a table. She was hot and miserable,” Pekich told Food & Wine. “When we took her to a dog park, Paul and I were bored, sweaty, and in need of a cocktail.”
These totally legit issues led the entrepreneurial pair to create a space that would encompass the best of both worlds — a dog park and a bar, or what the couple calls a dog bar: “an off-leash dog park with a bar,” and “an environment that promotes the connection between dogs and humans.”
The space will include a 2,000-square-foot bar built inside shipping containers, flat-screen TVs, and a food and drink menu including local beers, wines, and cocktails — and even beer for dogs.
Although Fidos can run figuratively free, a membership-based program will offer options priced between $10 per day to $140 for an annual pass, Food & Wine reports.
Boozehounds isn’t just for dog owners — it’s for all dog people. “This will be a sports bar just as much as it will be a dog park,” Pekich said. “It’s also an excuse to play with other people’s dogs. Who doesn’t love that?”
A fair question indeed. Although there is no official launch date at press time, Boozehounds’ website and Instagram indicate a summer 2019 debut.
