Happy Dog (5801 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44102) is a hot dog shop turned rock 'n roll bar turned relaxing watering hole. The little restaurant boasts so much more than what meets the eye, with a list of over 50 toppings for a hot dog or veggie dog, a huge beer list and a constant rotation of live music and other events. At first glance, you may think this is a members only punk rock venue, but when it comes down to it, everyone is welcome here and depending on what night you come, there's a little something for all diners. Don't be deterred by the dim lighting and dark colored decor!
With a large bar in the center of the restaurant, there's a plethora of seating options, depending on what you'd like to have a view of (TV, stage, door, other bar sitters, just the bartenders, other diners, etc.). Sit down to a menu with a simple checklist. Choose a hot dog or veggie dog and start piling on the toppings! The extensive list includes nacho cheese sauce, onions, cucumbers, chili, bacon, and even Andy Capps hot fries. Once you have that figured out, check out the back and decide on fries or tater tots and choose from another list of sauces for your choice of potato side. The decisions are never-ending here!
The specials rotate depending on the day or night you come. Mondays are trivia nights, with a pretty challenging group of people running the night as well as those providing some competition. Tuesdays rotate between the Write to Assemble literary events, sessions of live classical music, and physics lectures. The second Thursday of every month is a Gram Parsons tribute, The New Soft Shoe by Brent Kirby. Friday's happy hours are either DJ Kishka's Polka Happy Hour, DJ Clint's Ohio City Opry, DJ Krausman's One Foot in the Groove, or DJ Lawrence Caswell's Soul Music & Other Music For The Soul. When there is live music, there's a $5 cover charge at the door, which all goes to the performer(s).
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