Still Got That Dawg In It

Cold drinks. Serious food. Familiar faces. And a local bar with plenty of bite.

By Monica Jones

There are places in Columbus that don’t need much explaining. You either know them, know somebody who knows them, or have driven past enough times to wonder what all they’ve got going on in there.

The Dawg House is one of those places.

It’s a sports bar and grill, sure. There are pool tables, darts, cold drinks, karaoke nights, live bands, regulars who have their spots, and the kind of food people bring up with surprising seriousness. But The Dawg House is also harder to sum up than that. It has changed, stayed the same, taken a few hits, and somehow still feels like itself.

The Dawg House first opened in 2008, when Dee Watley saw what a lot of folks were feeling: the economy was rough, work was uncertain, and people still needed somewhere to go. Her family owned Watley Plumbing, and when the downturn hit, business got harder. Dee had bartending experience, a practical streak, and a pretty good read on people.

As Amanda Edwards remembers it, her mother knew one thing for sure: “People are gonna drink in this economy.”

What started as a bar became, officially, a sports bar and grill after the city required the business to operate as a restaurant because of nearby homes. In the long run, that detail helped shape one of the things people still talk about most: the food.

Today, The Dawg House is still a family operation, with Amanda, her brother Jason, and the team working to bring the place back to its roots without sanding off the edges that made people love it in the first place. It is not brand-new, not dressed up, and not trying to be something it isn’t. It is just better cared for.

“I wanted to take it back to the way it was,” Amanda says.

That has meant bringing bands back in, reworking the menu, taking better care of the staff, making the patio a bigger part of the place, and giving people more reasons to come in, whether they remember the old days or are just now finding their way through the door.

And then there is Mr. Henry.

“Mr. Henry is a local legend,” Amanda says. “I didn’t realize how much of a local legend he was until I posted a picture of him, and vendors and customers started coming in saying, ‘You realize you got a gold mine with Henry?’”

Henry has helped take lunch and daily specials to another level. The Dawg House still has the bar food people expect: burgers, wings, Philly cheesesteaks, cold beer, and a full bar. But the specials have become their own reason to pull up.

Mondays are reserved for Dee’s hamburger steak and gravy, a tribute to Amanda’s mother which is not going anywhere. Tuesdays bring lasagna and chicken pot pie for those chillier fall and winter days. Wednesdays have featured beef tips and rice and Henry’s mac and cheese. Thursdays have included meatloaf and spaghetti, while Fridays bring country fried steak and gravy, with catfish possibly joining the lineup as the weather warms up.

No judgment if Henry’s mac and cheese finds its way to a church potluck under somebody else’s name. Some secrets are between you, the Lord, and the person who actually cooked the mac and cheese.

The food is a big part of the story, but it is not the only thing bringing people back. The Dawg House has a full weekly rhythm now: Opinionation trivia on Mondays, singo and karaoke on Tuesdays, Ladies Night on Wednesdays starting at 6 p.m. with buy-one-get-one for a nickel margaritas, pool tournaments on Sundays, APA league play during the week, darts, games, and the kind of nights that start with “I’m just stopping by for a little while” and somehow turn into a whole evening.

Live music has also become a regular part of the room again. Amanda usually books a couple of bands each month, with names like GP38, Trey Guthrie, Parker House Band, Damn Skippy, Kindred Spirits, and Parris on the calendar.

The last Saturday of each month is also Smoke Free Saturday, a move Amanda knew might ruffle a few feathers. The Dawg House still has its regulars, its patio, and its old-school bar feel, but the smoke-free nights have opened the door for more people to come enjoy the food, the music, and the room without leaving with their hair and jacket smelling like a 1998 pool hall.

Amanda says part of the balance has been knowing what to change and what to leave alone. The goal was never to make The Dawg House fancy. It was to make it stronger, cleaner, more welcoming, and more alive, while keeping the same bones.

That includes honoring the people who built it.

One of the first things Amanda did after opening up the patio area was add a mural featuring her parents. For her, it was a way to keep Dee and her father, James Watley, present in the place without freezing The Dawg House in the past.

“I think the thing I’m most proud of is that we’ve held on to my parents’ memory there,” Amanda says. “I’ve advanced the place in areas, but held on to the things that were important to my mom, which was really good food, clean kitchen, and caring about the team.”

That team is a big part of why the place feels the way it does. Amanda is quick to point out that The Dawg House is not a one-person show. Jason, her brother, has been a big part of the bar for years, and the staff, kitchen, regulars, musicians, and customers all play a role in what it is now.

“We are a family up there,” Amanda says. “Dawg House family. And we bring the customers into that family every time they walk in.”

That may be the easiest way to explain the pull of The Dawg House. The Dawg House is not polished, not pretentious, and not trying to impress anybody into submission. It is the kind of place where you can come as you are, order something good, see somebody you know, and settle in without making a big production out of it.

You can eat well, drink something cold, watch the game, shoot pool, sing too loud, sit outside, bring the dog to the patio, or grab food to-go if the couch is calling and you have already done enough people-ing for the day.

The Dawg House is still The Dawg House.

It just has a little more bite.

The Dawg House Sports Bar & Grill is open seven days a week, with food available for dine-in or to-go. To keep up with weekly specials, events, live music, and updates, follow The Dawg House on Facebook and Instagram at @TheDawgHouseColumbus.