County Liquor Board Approves Barking Dog

The county liquor board voted unanimously Tuesday morning in favor of allowing Bethesda-based bar the Barking Dog to take over the liquor license just months prior.

Barking Dog owner John McManus first became interested in the former Turtle property after learning about it from his bank teller - a former Turtle employee, he told the city council during last week's council meeting.

"I'm here for the same reason Chipotle's here." he said after today's meeting. "40,000 students. It's not rocket science, you just gotta do it right."

As of Tuesday, McManus has successfully cleared two of the major hurdles that would come between him and opening his eatery and bar. last week to not oppose the Barking Dog, and many members of the liquor board expressed enthusiasm at McManus' plans.

"If it works ot the way it sounds, I think you’ll be a very good addition to College Park," said Commissioner Armando Camacho.

Commissioner Shaihi Mwalimu agreed.

"As long as you continue to focus on the customers, clients and neighborhood, I think you will always succeed," he said.

Despite the strict property use agreement established by the city - which requires that half the Barking Dog's sales are food, prohibits pitchers of beer to be sold under $9, and will require McManus to purchase an ID scanner (which cost between $5000 and $10,000) - McManus remains undaunted.

"I think what we’re going to offer is going to dissuade people from being upset about a $9 pitcher," he said. "I wouldn’t charge $9 for a pitcher of Miller Lite, but if you get a pitcher of Sierra Nevada for $9, you’re going to be happy."

McManus added that people need to stop associating the space with the Thirsty Turtle, and .

“That place was never designed to be a restaurant," he said. "It was operated to be a vomit factory. The operation in the past, whoever ran it, was not viable."

Rather, McManus plans to offer quality food that's available from open until close, as well as activities like skeeball, trivia nights, karaoke and salsa dancing. He intends to open the bottom floor of the establishment in May, and will work on getting the upstairs open by September.

Though McManus acknowledged the difficulty in changing the "Thirsty Turtle mindset," he said that in the end, he suspects his bar will be more sustainable.

"In three years from now, no one will even remember what the Thirsty Turtle was," he said.