Fetch Park dog bar opens in Manayunk next week
The bar and cafe will take over the former Bark Social space.
While Philly has plenty of dog-friendly restaurants, bars with leash-free dog parks are harder to come by, especially after the closure of Manayunk’s Bark Social in last year.
But a new bar and cafe dog park concept is on the horizon. Fetch Park, an Atlanta-based company where dogs run leash-free and their humans drink concern-free, has announced it will open Nov. 6 at the site of the former Bark Social at 3720 Main St., next to the United Artists movie theater. It’s the first location for the chain outside its home base in Georgia.
The concept, designed by founder Stephen Ochs, is to offer a place for dogs to roam free, monitored by “woof wardens“ (doggy minders/park rangers), while owners enjoy cocktails and Southern-inspired grub.
At the Manayunk location, Philadelphians can spend time with their dogs in the park, sip on local beers and craft cocktails at the bar, catch the game on outdoor TVs, chow down on burgers and pizza or try boozy cereal in the indoor dog-free cafe, eat and lounge in the cafe’s outdoor patio with their dogs, or take the pups to the adjacent retro-style parlor for ice cream with their dogs. The parlor will feature Dogsters, ice cream and milkshakes designed for pups.
For dog lovers and sports lovers alike, Fetch Park will be the spot to “grab a drink, watch the game, and pet all the dogs in the park” when you’re having a bad day, Ochs said.
“The whole concept is creating a place where owners can truly unwind and their dogs can play without [owners] having to worry about aggressive dogs or dogs that aren’t vaccinated,” Ochs said. “I want to create the happiest place you can experience in your day, whether you have a pup or you don’t.”
An avid sports fan who played baseball at Florida State University, Ochs came up with the idea for the business at the BCS college football championship game in 2014, where he noticed a tailgate offering a space for dogs to run free. After many rejections from banks to fund the business, he took a DIY approach and converted an Airstream trailer into a full-service bar and opened the first Fetch Park location in Atlanta in 2018.
Ochs was looking to expand beyond Georgia when developers who owned the site of Bark Social reached out to him to take over the space. After a five-day visit in Manayunk and its “picturesque” downtown, he decided the neighborhood would be the perfect location for Fetch Park’s fifth site, he told The Inquirer.
“Growing up with a sports background and playing sports my whole life, I’m really excited to be up North — you just don’t see the fandom like you do up here,” Ochs said.
Philadelphians have been waiting for the park’s opening since the founder announced plans in August. “I get seven or eight direct messages a day for updates,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get open as quickly as possible.”
With the site already set up to be a combined dog park and bar, Fetch Park will open without all its branding to quell the anticipation. Folks will find additional seating (about 55 seats inside) in the cafe, which has been repainted for “rustic charm vibe,” Ochs said, with additional finishing touches to come (lighting, art, a few retro video games). The park space will be “Fetch-ifed” over the next few weeks to months with the company’s old-school minor league baseball stadium look, murals, neon signs, an Airstream trailer, new tables, and additional outdoor lights and TVs.
The park is open to Philadelphians without dogs. Pup parents must follow rules for entry.
Each owner must present print or digital documentation of the Bordetella vaccine, which protects dogs from a highly contagious respiratory infection, to the “bark bouncers” at the door. Owners will also sign a waiver ensuring their dog is friendly and social and that dogs 8 months or older are spayed or neutered. It is recommended owners pick up after their dogs.
Fetch Park offers a $15 daily, $35 monthly, or $275 yearly membership. Entrance is free for humans, no dogs required. The park, which includes dog cooling stations and free Wi-Fi, will also host events and have live music.
“I’m really excited to become that go-to sports bar, whether you have a dog or not,” Ochs said.