Barks and Brews: Dog park, bar concept headed to Erie in 2025. What the owner has planned

Nicholas Sorensen, Erie Times-News

What's better than having a cold beverage and hanging out with your four-legged best friend?

Erie native Ashley Jang plans to make that a new business venture when she opens a dog park and bar called Barks and Brews in 2025.

Jang got the business inspiration from her time living in Cleveland with her energetic two-year-old lab Hamilton. She often took him to Taps and Tails, a dog bar in Cleveland, so he could socialize and burn off energy.

"We wanted to go interact with people and have a drink," she said. "Taps and Tails was opening in Cleveland and so we took Hamilton there and we loved it. It’s like being in your back yard without having to worry about it or be responsible for anything... you can turn your brain off and there’s always something to do. There’s also bark rangers that monitor them so there’s no issues.”

Coming home with a business idea

Jang wanted to bring the dog bar experience back to her hometown.

“I’m just trying to brighten back up Erie,” Jang said. “It’s not really about the business in general but more of the mindset. We want fun. People want things to do. People are itching to do things. I want to get rid of the dreary Erie mindset.”

Jang is in the process of buying a property at 1405 East Lake Road once used for Ultimate Warrior Martial Arts Studio, Abolish Pest Control and Erie Eclectink.

She plans to turn the karate studio portion of the building into an indoor dog park.

The bar portion will be placed where the tattoo parlor was located, and they will rotate their beer menu between different local breweries and will also serve different liquors and wines.

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For food options, the park will include food trucks and some light snacks at the bar when starting out.

Barks & Brews plans to have five to six beers on tap, which will be swapped out periodically, along with three to four other taps from different brewery partners as time goes on.

Jang is planning to add an outdoor fenced off area with picnic tables, splash areas for dogs complete with pools and vendor pop-up markets on the weekends.

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She also wants to host different events, including singles nights and dog meet-ups for large and small breeds.

When will Barks & Brews open?

For dog owners and canines who are eagerly awaiting, Jang is hoping to have the business up and running by spring of 2025. She has been in talks with the ANNA Shelter about hosting an adoption event on opening day once that is solidified.

In the meantime, here are some other dog parks nearby, according to Google:

Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Barks and Brews: Indoor dog park, bar in works for Erie

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