By Tim Hawk
A good dog is confident, attentive, playful and trusted around people.
But can the same description be attributed to a bar? Heather Gleason, co-owner of Good Dog Bar in Atlantic City, thinks so.
“I picked Good Dog just because it has a positive connotation,” said Gleason, “I feel like dogs make people happy.”
So it’s no surprise that on Wednesday evening, during the second night of a friends and family event — which gave the staff and management time to work out the kinks before the grand opening Thursday afternoon — happy faces were all that could be seen.
Adding to the already festive atmosphere were 172 framed black and white pictures of dogs that were selected as winners of a dog photo contest.
Gleason and her husband Dave Garry first stepped foot into the already gutted building, located in the Chelsea section of the city, in July of 2020 after friend and developer Pat Fasano bought the property and told them he just bought Good Dog Bar in Atlantic City.
The Atlantic City location will be the second for the couple who also own Good Dog Bar in Philadelphia which opened in 2003.
Less than three years later the two-story building located on Atlantic Avenue, which was once a swingers club called RolePlay, is now a neighborhood bar that has something for everyone.
“You can come here for a nice meal, you can come play pool and put a couple of beers down, we’re going to have NFL Ticket so you can watch any game you want,” explained Gleason.
The first floor features a 30-foot bar which seats 22 and a dog-themed ceramics mural created by MudGirls Studios. Booths and two-top tables round out the seating and a large bifold window will open up to let the light and the ocean breeze in.
Upstairs features a slightly shorter bar which seats 20, a pool table, more tables and booths, and another large bifold window for a perfect view of the sunset.
Sitting near the window and the end of the bar was Brian Jackson and his husband Michael Baker who were sipping on signature cocktails while waiting for their first round of food, wings and mac and cheese.
“It’s beautiful, I’m really impressed with what they’ve done with the building. It’s really a unique space,” said Jackson, who is the chief operating officer at Stockton University Atlantic City.
Jackson said he loves that dogs are a feature of the bar and is excited that two of his dogs’ pictures are hanging on the wall.
The bar is walking distance from Stockon and come fall semester more than 900 students, faculty and staff will have another option for food off campus.
“I think it’s just a great asset to the community,” said Jackson. “It really lifts the value of what the Chelsea neighborhood brings to Stockton and to the city of Atlantic City.”
Echoing that sentiment was Fasano who believes that the bar is another building block to take back the streets and transform Atlantic City into a young hip city.
“This is such an accessible walkable city so we have to make the streets more friendly and the way we do that is one building at a time.”
Gleason said she still can’t believe Good Dog is finally done and up and running after completely renovating the dilapidated building. Tin ceilings on both floors and more windows help brighten up the space and the original brick was repointed and sealed.
The front of the building has the moniker “come. sit. stay.” welcoming customers to do the same while on the side, overlooking the outdoor space, is a mural of dogs doing various Jersey Shore activities.
The dog friendly outside patio area hopefully will be open by June, Gleason said, and will include eight picnic tables.
The menu will be similar to the Philly location and include a vegan cheesesteak, short rib grilled cheese, creamy mac & cheese and the popular Good Dog Burger which is stuffed with Roquefort cheese and topped with caramelized onions on a challah bun and served with house-cut french fries.
Gleason said that the chef hopes customers lean more towards seafood which will be a focus on the specials menu.
“She’s really hoping we can move some whole fish and do a lot of scallops and different creations of lobster and crab.”
A fish sandwich will be on the menu and well as more salad choices since summer is right around the corner.
There will be a happy hour Monday through Friday from 3 p.m to 6 p.m. with drink and food specials and food will be served until midnight.
Gleason hopes everybody loves Good Dog as much as she thinks they will because it was two years of labor of love. But as any dog owner knows, every dog needs love and a little work to make them who they are.
If the bar was a dog Gleason said it would be a mutt.
“Durable, lots of different components went into making us, and you know we’re gonna live forever.”
Tim Hawk has been a photojournalist for more than 30 years, covering South Jersey and the Jersey Shore. He is also an adjunct professor at Rowan University he teaches photojournalism.
