15 thoughts to “The Barking Dog”

  2. Two words: Tofu Fries.

    They're delicious. And this high praise comes from a meat eater! It's a great little neighborhood joint to grab a beer (Ziewicz, please) and some fresh pub food. Good, not greasy.

  3. This palce is horrible, probably the worst experiences I've had in Seattle. I went there three times, the last two not by my choice – mu friends wanted to meet there. Sure it's good if you want to bring your kids, but two hot dishes came out at room temperature and one still was cold inside. The service was slow and if you sit at the bar you have to hope that someone sees you through the beer taps. Who designs at bar with beer taps across the front a foot away from the customers face. Bad, bad, bad.

  4. My husband and I live down the street and have probably been there a couple dozen times. Besides loving the beer and the festive, family atmosphere, we've never had any bad experiences with either the food or service. Admittedly, most of the food we've had wouldn't win any awards, but it's always been good, especially the generously-sized and tasty pizzas. We probably go once a week or so and are grateful to have them around.

  5. This used to be me favorite little beer and burger joint in Ballard. Last time I went there a few weeks back I ordered a chicken sandwich and it was served to me on a Costco hot dog bun. My wife got a hamburger bun with her veggie burger however. I didn't feel so bad when i noticed the lady at the table next to us was eating a fish sandwhich on a hot dog bun also.
    I miss the old barking dog (along with the other numerous posters), but still go to this place for its good beer selection and baby friendly rules despite terrible service time and time again.

  6. The last time we went, one of the owners asked us to pay our check when she dropped off our food, because she was about to get off work for the evening. WTF? Ok, let me just ignore my food while it's still hot so I can get my credit card out. So the OWNER can get off work. She was still sitting in the bar when we left, and her husband was still working. Couldn't he, as the other owner, have closed out our check? We weren't in a hurry, and would have ordered more beer, but since we had already closed out, we left instead. I've always been annoyed at the bad service here, but have enjoyed the food enough to try, try again…but we haven't been back after that experience (over 6 months ago). They are *clueless* about how to run a restaurant.

  7. I witnessed this and I still can't believe it!! I was completely shocked and actually took a look around to make sure it wasn't my imagination, but the place was in fact EMPTY, aside from me, ThinTire here and another in the bar area! Oh, and the friend (non-employee) with whom the waitress/manager was chatting behind the bar. The place was dead quiet. It happened exactly as ThinTire states. They were in the far corner by the window and she actually yelled at him across the restaurant.

    In fact, all of these posts are accurate, ESPECIALLY the poor service. They do give you a perfectly good pour however. It is a shame because it is a great venue and has access to a popular neighborhood at its doorstep where three turns of a table are possible during peak hours. The new owner is a local and has been around the business forever. The chef is L-A-Z-Y! There's simply no excuse. This town is full of places to go. It would be nice to capture the business in your own back yard before they drive/walk-by on the way to other venues. The bonus (literally) would be to return to a destination place from beyond the immediate area too. None of this will happen unless a change is made. Maybe they should call-in Gordon Ramsey!

  8. Last night was my first time trying Barking Dog. The place was hopping busy. Had a to wait about 10 mins for a table. Seemed like a typically neighborhood bar to me. Good food, good brew. Nothing over the top. A good place have a casual dinner with friends in my neighborhood.

  10. This was my very favorite restaurant in Seattle for a long time, until the switch in owners and the ‘dumbing-down’ of the food & service. I’ve missed the Old Dog a lot, and since I don’t have kids (ie: don’t need a pub that serves macaroni and chicken fingers with its belgian brews), don’t have a lot of reason to go for Dog food.

    I found myself in Snohomish recently, and remembered that the original Barking Dog owner had started a pub up there too (Riverside? Rivertown? Something like that…) so I checked it out. The owner, “Chewy” (seriously?) was great and really proud of the fact that he hadn’t changed much from the original concept or menu. It’s a bit darker and the decor is a bit more ‘tav’ than pub but all I can say is for any of you missing the old Barking Dog, take a trip to Snohomish. It’s worth the drive.

  11. First time we came as it was highly recommended. The crab cakes were so salty they were inedible. The second time at brunch the service was so poor our eggs were cold. They didn’t seem to care. The 3rd and last time the pasta was inedible too.
    Great atmosphere, fabulous mimosas but the food and service? Not so much.

  13. I am one of the two owners and true, we are there ourselves often helping or backing our staff anyway we can when needed. We having not only been in the industry ourselves for a long time often go out as well and know what we appreciated service wise. I do not at all recall doing this, as it is not usually the service we believe in. However, if in fact I did, it was most likely after working 10 hours and may have just been exhausted…but, not your fault and I apologize. If you came in more often you’d see that we believe strongly in a comfortable, relaxed environment where we encourage people to stay and linger as long as they like, even when there’s a line out the door! I am sorry I gave you the wrong impression.

  14. We are one of those families that “used to go to the Barking Dog” and then got turned off by poor service and lesser food quality. However, after reading some newer reviews on other sites, we decided to give it a try again. Could not be happier we did – wonderful service, nice food – this is again on our list of “comfortable” family friendly restaurants.

  15. Barking Dog is an awesome place…Monday night 9 dollar pitchers are priceless. I have been there a hand full of times in the past 2 months, the service is good and so is the food. If you have young kids this local bar/grill is perfect for family nights out!!

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