Bark Social — Restaurant in Baltimore

A 2yr update: Our dogs still love it. The staff is still amazing. The changes we’ve witnessed over the past 2yrs, not so much. There was a very clear change from “a place for dogs” to “a place where we will let your dogs run off leash as long as we can use it as a front to make as much money as possible because we really don’t give a crap about dogs, we only care about taking your money.”

The amount of people-centered events has gone from a couple times a month to something every day. Trivia is fine, it’s free and pretty tame, but nobody thinks it’s important to make sure the people without dogs are closing the gates behind them. Every Tuesday we watch people holding both gate doors open for each other, leaving a clear path to the parking lot for every off leash dog. I cannot believe there hasn’t been a sentinel event yet.

The volume of the karaoke DJ is absolutely ridiculous. It is so loud that you literally cannot have a conversation with the person sitting across a table from you. I’ve had to yell louder than Ive ever yelled on the Square on a Saturday. And honestly, we like the music. If we were in a BAR, I’d have no complaints but, dog’s ears are 4x more sensitive than humans. You wanna know why every dog is a lunatic on DJ night? Probably because their auditory systems are being assaulted. We’ve watched people walk up and leave because their dogs were shaking in fear from the volume. It is so incredibly inappropriate to have volume of that kind in a DOG PARK. But, it gets people from volo and rev there, so the dogs don’t matter.

They filled the small dog section with toys for kids so the small dogs can kick rocks, I guess. They can hang with the big guys or GTFO, they don’t care.

Speaking of kids. The amount of people that are allowed to let their small children run around like it’s a playground for them is baffling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched parents in conversation, or at the beer wall, with no cares in the world, while their children - some of them really small- run around like it’s their playground. Rangers catching dogs before they grab onto and take down a toddler (Rory you’re the real MVP ). Kids run up behind dogs, shove their faces in dog’s faces, and grab onto dogs trying to force them to interact. More than the wide open gates on trivia night, idk how this hasn’t yet resulted in tragedy. If you ask a parent to not allow their child to run up on your dog, they act like you’re the problem.

The food is not good. Period. Just when you think it’s can’t get worse, they switch it up to more Sysco frozen garbage that they’re going to drag you over the coals for. Don’t worry, we went ahead and got the $30 pretzel charcuterie so you don’t have to. Pic below. You’re welcome.

Concerns fall on deaf ears. You voice them to the managers, and they say “talk to corporate” and “we need the revenue.” You contact “corporate” and they placate you by reassuring you that they’re dog parents, too, they totally understand!

Our dogs are seniors. They’ve been here since day 1 and all of the staff know them, and our dogs love them. We’ll still go during day time and non-event hours for their sake. Once they go to the rainbow bridge, our membership will go with them. Any new dog we adopt, will never see Bark Social. It’s truly very sad for us. The concept is amazing. Unfortunately, it seems the ownership partnered with investors who only care about dollars, not dogs. I do believe the original plan was in the interest of dogs and their owners but it’s clearly not anymore. ————————————— Our dogs have the best time here. By our third visit most of the rangers knew their names and now recognize them in the yard as soon as we get there. The rangers do an excellent job of playing, keeping water fresh, tub water clean, managing waste, and general crowd control. We really appreciate the climate controlled clubhouse for little breaks from the sun. Our dogs know exactly where they are when we arrive and cant get...

Bark Social is a unique and fun space for dog owners that allows them to relax and drink a beverage and have some food while their dogs play and are monitored by Bark Rangers.

All dogs have to be fixed and fully vaxxed to be allowed in, which gives peace of mind for doggy play.

The staff is very nice and will remember the names of returning dogs and owners.

My high points: -Friendly Staff big space -covered and heated area for year round visitors. beer wall and weekly events like trivia.

My low points: the food is overall pretty mediocre and some items are particularly overpriced. It's not bad by any means, but if most items dropped by $3-$6 bucks it would be more reasonable for what you are getting which is essentially concession stand food out of microwaves or toasters.

-rule enforcements need to be more strictly followed. The staff is very nice, and sometimes, that can be a double-edged sword. I've had problems where my girl dog gets followed around by a male dog looking to hump her and the staff do nothing but keep separating it when it happens. Online, Bark Social's website says repeat offending dogs will be asked to leave. I've never seen that happen and usually it's the dog parents like me who get offended for their own pup that leave earlier than expected.

I wish they would keep better track of problematic dogs and actually tell the owners to leave and try again tomorrow or something similar. I'm not asking them to ban owners right away, but there should be like a 3 strike rule that after 3 incidents in one visit they are asked to leave, and then their account gains a mark, and if an account gains 3 marks in a 6 month period of time then their account is suspended or revoked.

Given how much a yearly membership costs, I don't think it's too much to ask!

Given all I have said, I still think Bark Social is worth it. It's going to be safer and cleaner than a public dog park, you have more eyes on your dog, and it's a great way to meet others in the area. I probably only experience the issues I stated above once every...

We are obsessed with this place. Over the past few months, we’ve used every amenity they offer regularly enough to feel confident in saying they’re amazing at everything. Dog camp, dog sitting, dog baths, drinks, events, whatever. They all know & clearly love my dog and every other dog here. They know and clearly understand dogs. They are fearless and quick in responding to any potential dog altercation, track which dogs may not have the best relationships and carefully navigate them, and clearly know and remember dogs and their owners—these are dog PEOPLE. I went from afraid and helicoptering the parking lot for a half hour to casually dropping him off for daily 1-2 hr (mutual) gym sessions to all day camps when I’m in meetings without a thought & under 20 seconds. I know every single person here is amazing and a rock star and I trust them with my whole heart (which is obviously my dog) daily. Incredibly impressive is also how the ENTIRE staff is so good, which makes it easier for me because my dog is so obsessed that coming here every day is enjoyable for me too.

It’s also perfect for anyone who works from home—about a dozen or so people come in the afternoons to work while their dogs frolic which is a nice change of pace and break from the monotony of your home.

I will say on some weekends people who are not members tend to come, which is fine, but it can get more rowdy…it’s not the normal dogs, it truly seems totally random and not the norm, and it’s ONLY on weekends. The Bark Rangers are incredible with this, but if your dog is the type to get excited when others do, don’t be alarmed & don’t think your dog is totally innocent! Don’t let some reviews which state their dog was “attacked” concern you…I feel like I’m a professional dog watcher at this point and I gotta say every dog involved in a dog scuffle as been a willing participant in said dog scuffle 😂. They will absolutely not let anything bad happen, but sometimes you need to step in and parent your own dog too when there are that many...