City OK's Barking Dog to Take Over Former Thirsty Turtle Building

If the Barking Dog doesn't come to College Park, it won't be because the city council refused to support it.

The council voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday night in favor of the Bethesda-based bar opening a location in the home of the former Thirsty Turtle, after receiving its from the county liquor board in two years. 

Barking Dog owner John McManus said at Tuesday's meeting that he has no intention of running his bar the way others in that location have been run in the past.

"I cannot for a second imagine doing what the last people did," he said. "I'm in it for the long-haul."

The council's support is contingent on McManus' ability to meet certain criteria laid out in the city's property use agreement. Security must be extensive, and employees will use ID scanners. McManus will also have to ensure that at least 50 percent of his sales are food, and pitchers of beer must be at least $9, a far cry from the Turtle days of dollar pitcher night.

Still, McManus isn't worried. He said he plans to offer catering and carry-out as he does at the Bethesda location, and has agreed to the $9 minimum on pitchers. He said the Barking Dog had seen transient ownership in Bethesda before he took it over, citing the glut of bars in the area as the reason for the string of failures before him. McManus has been running the bar for 11 years.

"If I can make it in Bethesda, I'm pretty sure I can make it in College Park," he said.

McManus will go before the county liquor board next week. If approved, he said, he will take over the building's 16 year lease, and plans on opening up shop in May.