This Show’s For Real: The Dog & Pony Alehouse & Grill

A curious name that makes sense once you know the origin: dog and pony shows were small traveling circuses in America’s late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Vagabonds brought their acts to small towns and rural areas, supplying open air entertainment where big top performers wouldn’t go. 

The Dog & Pony prides itself on having the “best draft selection in Washington,” with special emphasis on local craft beers. They do offer PBR and Rainier “yellowish beers”, but will not serve “yellow beers” such as Bud or Red Hook. When I asked beer industry experts about this distinction, their feeling was D & P was making a statement on brew politics more than actual ale color.

As someone in the wine business, all of this is an education to me. It’s interesting to hear customers discuss their beer preferences with the staff as if talking with a sommelier before ordering a bottle of wine at a fine restaurant. 

On a hot July afternoon, the first thing I wanted to wash down my gullet was a refreshing pint of Anthem Cherry Cider ($5.50) made from Oregon apples, pears and cherries, while my beer-connoisseur hub went for a pint of Chuckanut Pilsner ($4.50), made in Bellingham. Hub said that this was one of the first locally brewed Pilsner’s that actually tasted like a true-blue Czech Pils.

With pints to tip back under our umbrella table, we ordered beer-battered sweet onions ($6.95) to start things out. I don’t often order Onion Rings, but the quality of Dog & Pony’s plateful made them well worth the fried-food-plunge. Each bite yielded juicy Walla Walla flavor, with a crisp crust outside. We also loved the kitchen’s uncommon twist of including a bowl of Asian sweet chili dipping sauce, which worked extremely well with our libations.

Haven’t had a cheese steak in Philly for a long time, but I daresay Dog & Pony makes a darn good rendition ($7.95). “Yo, Adrian!” (they quip on the menu, from Rocky)--and you can choose between sliced sirloin or chicken as the main filling on this sandwich icon. What’s holding me back from giving the stamp of great? Wish the onions & green peppers were grilled until soft, and the roll left me non-plussed. Helluva of a sandwich for eight bucks though!

We also went with another pub classic--Fish & Chips ($9.95). Beer-battered, panko-crusted, and browned, the color left me skeptical about over-frying until my husband passed over a forkful of tender cod embraced by the crisp coating The auburn crust provides savory armor, protecting flaky white fish... Sidled with hand-cut potatoes, house tartar sauce, and decent slaw, this rates as one of our favorite fish-fries of late. 

The Dog & Pony is a gathering spot for the community, but also a libation-destination for beer lovers and cyclists. I had to snap a shot of a neighboring table's order because they looked like a Nacho plate well worth ordering, not just junky bar food. During our lunch acclaimed Northwest chef, Christine Keff, was seated beside us, refueling after a ride from Seattle’s Gasworks Park to Park Avenue. You never know who you’ll bump into in Renton! 

On the patio, with a deck of cards from the bar, I took my time to enjoy a pint of Dogfish Festina Peche, a seasonal fruit ale from Delaware. Dog & Pony advertises 32 + offerings at a time, and you can order a sampler of four beers for $4.50. Have your own Growler? You can fill up for $8.95, just like I used to do as a mountain-climbing graduate student in Boulder, Colorado.

We almost came back again later in the evening for Dog & Pony's Saturday Movie Night, as they were showing The Big Lebowski. They project their movies onto a painted "screen" on the patio, every sunny Saturday summer night when it gets dark (around 10 pm). How fun does a free flick and a cool pint on a July/August night sound?

Dog & Pony Alehouse & Grill
351 Park Avenue North Renton, Washington 98057 
(425) 254-8080