‘World’s first dog tap house’ opens in Oregon

Fido’s, which bills itself as “the world’s first dog tap house,” has opened in Oregon, doubling up as a 40-tap beer hall and a dog adoption centre.

While dogs regularly accompany their owners into pubs, a US business has taken things one step further.

Fido’s, which doubles up as a taproom and a dog shelter, had its soft launch on 1 February and is due to fully open on 13 February at 11am in Portland, Oregon.

Founder Scott Porter, an Air Force veteran, local business owner and dog lover said the idea came to him when visiting a cat café called Purrington’s.

“When I started researching the demographics for the dogs I was surprised to find that most people that like craft beer, a very high percentage have dogs,” he told Koin.com.

The drinking hall with 40 rotating taps serving beer, wine and cider is covered in canine artwork while the televisions play dog videos, unless it’s the Superbowl of course.

Shelter dog ‘Bette’ wants to join the party in the taproom. Image: Fido’s

A quarter of the profits from the tap room and shelter will be donated to local rescue charities. In addition, charities can hold promotional events at the venue for free.

Fido’s will have a “day room” where visitors can play with or adopt rescue dogs from the Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals charity.

Porter also hopes to run beer events showcasing local craft beer from Oregon as well as the US and further afield.

And rest assured, there are measures in place to ensure that after one drink too many, you don’t adopt the entire dog shelter.

“We’ve talked about that,” Porter told wweek.com. “[Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals] won’t let anybody adopt while they’re here. There’s a two or a three step process. But I joke about this: We don’t want anybody here with a couple drinks, then you wake up in the morning with a leash in your hand and somebody licking your face”.

The house rules also apply: you can’t bring your own dogs to the taproom and you must leave your beer and food in the drinking hall before you play with the dogs.

“The food would make the dogs go crazy,” Porter added. “And I really don’t want to deal with broken glass”.