Hello everybody, this is Kyle Sasser here at Great Things Tampa Bay. This is episode 21, Dog Bar. I do have to admit upfront every time I say “Dog Bar,” I almost sing it. Well there’s probably like five of you that remember this, but so on “Liquid Television” they had a little segment that they would do, a little skit, and they’d call it Dog Boy, and they would sing it. Dog boy. So every time I say “Dog Boy,” that’s how I want to say it. But I promise you I will not subject you to that. Again this episode is Dog Bar. This is one of my wife and I favorite places, and Bijou’s [SP] as well. Bijou is our one-year-old chocolate Pomeranian. She is a complete pain in the ass, but gotta love your dog.

So Dog Bar, it’s basically what it sounds like. It is a bar with dogs. So pretty interesting setup. It’s located over on Central Avenue, here in St. Petersburg. Next to where Taco Bus used to be before they closed down, across the street from, there’s like a pub cade I guess you could call it, it’s like a place that serves beer and also has like video games inside of it which is pretty cool. I definitely need to go check that out for a future episode. But today we’re talking about Dog Bar.

They have 3,000 square feet under cover. They do serve adult beverages, thus the bar part of Dog Bar. And then it’s basically a dog park. They have both on leash and off leash areas. Everyone tends to congregate in the off leash area. And it sounds like it might get a little crazy, but they do actually fully vet all of the dogs that come in there. So they make sure everyone’s gotten their shots. They make sure everyone’s well behaved. They actually have staff that patrols the park area, make sure the dogs keep it in line. Any problem pooches are asked not to return.

There is a membership at the Dog Bar. You know, just can’t let any hound off the street in there. So, you know, you do actually have to go in and apply for the dog and kind of meet the criteria there. But it’s a really cool place and, you know, they have pools there, they have ramps for the dogs to run up and down. It’s not a place you go and like throw the ball with the dog, you basically just sit there and watch your dog run around with a whole bunch of other dogs, from the very large to the very small. There’s been the Burmese water dogs all the way down to our Pomeranian and even smaller than that, you know, like little Chihuahuas and all that stuff, but they all get along very, very well and run around and have a great time. They’ll definitely crack you up. I had two dogs just jump on my…like not my dog, just somebody else’s dog just climbed up and jumped on my lap, and that’s where he hung out, you know, about 10 minutes or so. So, it’s a good time. They do full liquors. They have TVs there if you want to go watch the game. It’s a really popular place on the weekends. The pedal pubs also stop there so, you know, it can get pretty lively. During the week it’s a little quieter, not quite as many dogs there. So it might be a good place to start. They do have separate areas for smaller dogs or puppies, just, you know, can kind of ease them into it, you don’t want to throw them out there with the Great Danes to start with. You stay about a hour, hour and a half, but the great thing is when you leave, your dog is dead tired, and will just sleep through whatever remains of the day.

So that is at 2300 Central Avenue over here in St. Petersburg. And again that’s next to where the old Taco Bus used to be before they closed down. I actually liked it so much that I did do a interview with the owner, Fred. Very nice guy. So we’re going to be featuring that on one of our upcoming interview episodes, so keep your ears open for that. They do have one requirement, with no kids or small children. And that’s just kind of for the safety of everybody. For the dogs, as well as the for the children. But definitely, it’s an awesome time. I know the…it’s actually kind of unique here in the area, I did hear they were trying to build one over in Tampa, but I think that’s still in progress. It’s a very cool place, very cool place. So check it out, Dog Bar, Central Avenue.

Here’s a little good news from America’s Health. Water has become the most popular and favorite drink among America’s yet again. The average American currently drinks around 58 gallons of water a year, but as you can imagine, soda, or pop, or however you want to refer to it, I know me being from the south we just usually call it Coke, overall. But soda was the most popular drink for 20 years, with consumption peaking in 1998 at 54 gallons a year. And in that same year, 1998, Americans drank just 42 gallons of water a year. So that increased from 42 gallons of water a year to 58 gallons of water a year. This mainly chalked up to the increase in bottled water and also America’s just being a little bit more health conscious than we have been in previous years. But it’s not all roses and sunshine for the bottling company. Selling water is definitely a lot less profitable then soda. Most people don’t know this, but Coke Cola, they really just deliver the syrup to the local bottlers, and the local bottlers are the ones responsible for putting the water in there and, you know, mixing it up and then getting it, you know, on the shelves of your local stores. Yeah, so keep up the good work, America. I feel like we’re a little less fat because of that. But it does bring up a question, what could be the next most popular beverage in America? So if you have any ideas, if you think maybe it’s Red Bull energy drinks, maybe Gatorade. There was a period of time where I had two or three Gatorades a day. If you have some additional ideas, just reach out to us on the Great Things Tampa Bay discussion group. I’d love to hear your ideas.

So I want to thank you for sharing Great Things Tampa Bay with your friends and family. You can share us by going to our website, greatthingstb.com. There you’ll find share buttons on nearly every page. You can share us on Twitter, Facebook, all that good stuff. If you are looking for your own great place in Tampa Bay, I’m also a licensed realtor, specializing in deep knowledge of Hillsborough and Pinellas County. So if you want to talk real estate, you can give me a call at 727-300-2111, or you can send me an email at kyle@sassergroup.com, that’s kylesassergroup.com. And I’d be more than happy to help you find your next home here in Tampa Bay.

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