Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Dog House Pub & Grill Opens in Columbia

The Dog House Pub & Grill has apparently opened in the Long Reach Village Center. I have been to Long Reach for fried chicken at Chick N' Friends, but I hadn't heard about Dog House.

Erin emailed me last week about opening night:
The new Dog House Pub and Grill just opened up in the Long Reach village center. I believe it took over the space that was formerly the Columbia Ale House. I stopped in yesterday on opening night and I think the place has a lot of potential. It encroaches a bit on the Pub Dog Pizza brand, but their intentions are good: a portion of their proceeds go to the Howard County Animal Rescue. And they have all the greasy munchies that Pub Dog lacks.
The food was well priced for large portions. Typical pub food, but with a few added entrees that bring it up a notch. The ribs looked amazing and I wish I had tried them over the sandwich I chose. My dinner companion said the the buffalo wing were quite tasty (20 for $10!). They also had a nice beer selection, which was priced a very reasonable $3 a pint (beers like Flying Dog and Dogfish Head, which would cost you at least $4 or more at places like Frisco). The bar area is quite large and may eventually be a nice spot for live music.
Since it was opening night, they were still working out some minor kinks in the kitchen, and the waiters were still learning the menu and beer list. I think once they get the hang of things, it'll run much smoother. They could also use some more dog related decor. Besides some photos of dogs on the walls near the entrance and scattered dart boards, all the other walls were bare.
I'll probably stop in again to see how things progress. I don't normally hang out at village center bars/pubs, but I liked the friendly atmosphere of this one. I couldn't find a web site, but I think the owner/chef is named Bill.

17 comments:

Sarah said...

Interesting. I live across the street and we got a flyer for it last week. Walked on over, but it seemed really overpriced to me (didn't eat there, just checked out the menu on the front door). Maybe if the portions are large, it makes up for it, but most entrees were hitting $20, which is high for reg'lar old pub far.

BeerGuy said...

Hmmm, I shall have to investigate the beer scene there at some point.

Bitsy said...

Ate dinner there the other night, and thought the prices were VERY reasonable given the portion sizes and food quality.

I had the crab cake dinner (those crab cakes were big!) and Hubby ate the ribs, which he said were tender and delicious.

You can't beat those hand-cut fries, either. Yum!

Sarah said...

Update-- we went to dinner there last night and it was fantastic. The fries were indeed great, and even the $8 sandwiches are totally enough for two meals. The beers-- $3 for Flying Dog! You can't beat it. Waitress was super nice and service was a huge improvement over the previous Ale House. We'll be going back. I'm eating my words along with those fries!

Johanna said...

We went there today and really enjoyed all of our meals. The nachos were enormous and very tasty. My grilled chicken salad in a tortilla shell was also delicious and very reasonably priced. They had a $1.25 special on all beers today - which was great. The service was wonderful and everyone was very friendly. We will be back!

bill hixon said...

I think they may have the best fries I've ever tasted... Their beer prices were better than anywhere in Howard Co.

Ms. Dish said...

Wow! Can't praise this place enough! Great atmosphere, good prices, excellent service and delicious food. Nice beer selection, too. Will definitely be a repeat customer.

Eric Cathcart said...

Order the 'Old Bay' wings. Simply amazing! They're not on the menu but ask the staff and they'll know what to do. Live music on Saturdays (they promise more nights) is astounding. This is the road house joint that everyone's been wanting. A++ Maryland and Virgina blues, roots, funk, R&B, Mason-Dixon seems the direction. Kind of funky and retro. Nice change of pace. But back to the portions - everyone left with a 'doggie bag' from what I could tell. They do need to play more on the Dog House Theme :)

avalondj said...

Great atmosphere and friendly staff, I had the cheeseburger with guacomole and it was great. The crowd really loves the music video party on wed-thur night. I keep going back over and over

Anonymous said...

Just went here tonight, and I have to admit we were very disappointed by the beer selection.

The only "craft" beer on tap was Dogfish Head (and not the IPA). No more Flying Dog. The rest of the selections were the typical bar beers you find at many places around here.

The bottle selection was no better, either.

We ended up not eating there, because after reading this entry and the comments, we were looking for some decent selections. We weren't thinking it would be Victoria's or anything like that, but definitely something more than Sam Adams Seasonal, Bud, Yuengling and the other "usual suspects."

We ended up at Sonoma, where the beer selection was a notch higher at least.

On the bright(er) side, our waitress @ Dog House said she is talking with the owner about getting better beers in. Hopefully that will help.

M Allen said...

Dog House has the best buffalo chicken sandwich I have ever had. Lightly dusted with flour (so you can still taste the chicken and not just breading), coated with a spicy wing sauce and topped with a tangy blue cheese sauce. It is served on fresh brioche buns and comes with their excellent (freshly made) fries. They also make their own mayo. This place is a step above your common bar food for sure !

Rob said...

Thought I would give it a try last night. Got there at 6:30 and there was not one table occupied with diners. Not one on a Saturday night! And I could understand why because the ambiance is terrible. Very brightly lit and three pool tables dominating the floor space. Cannot comment on the quality of food or beer because we left

Rob said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Took the fam there on the way from a trip. Excellent. We loved the food. The owner (Bill) promised us a nice vegetarian meal and he delivered. Good beer and me likes beer. A+, we'll be back again.

sbiese said...

You should visit the DogHouse website www.doghousepubandgrill.com.
They post weekly specials and show what bands are playing that week.

Anonymous said...

Are you people nuts ?!? Or are you so used to such low standards that this place seems like heaven because it is out of the rain ? We went there tonight and for a pub;grill;bar; whatever, it only had three little wooden tables in the whole place ! As if the furnishings had been repossessed. A group of gangbangers around the remaining two out of four pool tables. Everything about the place screamed TRASH. The two security guards posted inside the place spoke volumes about the places activities. They were actually shocked when we asked about food and the lady wrestler said all they offer nowdays is wings and bar snacks. What a waste of space unless they are doing community service for when the shelters are full. DJ was setting his stuff up and we couldn't figure out why except I told my friend that maybe he sounded better in an empty bar than in his shower.:) Anyway if this place was ever as decent as previous posts proclaimed, there is no remaining evidence of what once was . Or maybe the posts are by folks with a stake in the place. Who knows, but now, who cares. Its really a job for the health department and animal control.

Junior Barnes said...

FYI - I went by Long Reach shopping center last weekend and the restaurant was closed.