Passing the Bar: The Doghouse

  There is no reason a place like The Doghouse Saloon should not be popular. It has games, cheap drinks, lots of space, a big screen to watch sports and a friendly staff. But, despite the giant “Wheel of Fortune”-like game, where you get to spin the wheel and get a free shot with each drink you buy during happy hour, the crowd on a recent Tuesday night was sparse. I guess it goes back to that old saying, “Location, location, location.”  

In late 2009, the Doghouse took residency where The Annex nightclub formerly lived on the Lower East Side, and the sports bar doesn’t seem to draw much of a crowd yet.The people that did loiter about the bar for happy hour and beer pong were of the Midtown businessman type—exactly who you would expect to be there if the bar was 50 blocks farther uptown. But in this once-happening area, there aren’t usually many suits mulling about after work (they tend to wait until a bit later to show up) and the people who hit the bars early are prone to get their PBR from Welcome to the Johnsons, check out bands at Piano’s or get in touch with their divey side at Motor City. Either way, what the LES doesn’t breed are sports bars.

Aside from its tacky décor, featuring shoddily painted, pimped-out dog images (think a bad rendition of Blitz Wolf) and the hand-drawn signs,The Doghouse isn’t an unpleasant bar. It serves free hotdogs, buckets of shelled peanuts, offers Big Buck Hunter and skee-ball, has beer pong tables, a pool table and two (soon to be three) levels. Drinks range from $3 for beer specials to $6 for well drinks and up to $10 for top-shelf concoctions.

Each week the themes and deals are the same. On Monday, the bar screens football games (until the end of the season) and offers $4 margaritas all night.Tuesday is trivia night and Wednesday you can get your wolf on and ogle the barmaids in themed costumes. On Thursday a random liquor company comes in and offers you free drinks and swag, while on the weekends you can drink as much as you want for $25 during whatever game you came to see, so pray for overtime.

With these cheap-to-free offerings and quiet crowds, it’s a mystery how The Doghouse manages to stay open—and how it isn’t slammed. The shot wheel used for happy hour proves a lot of fun for someone who likes to gamble and, more importantly, a quick way to get drunk. The spin is free with a drink and you can win a shot of anything from water to Jack Daniel’s or Patron. Until things pick up—if they pick up—The Doghouse is an easy place to dip into for some quiet gaming or with a large party that wants to drink.

Only time will tell if a sports bar can last down here, but as long as the neighborhood’s favorite amateur pastime is drinking, we think things will work out.

-- The Doghouse Saloon 152 Orchard St. (betw. Rivington & Stanton Sts.), 646-429-8770.