Home > Bars & Clubs > Bar Review > Inside: Yellow Dog Tavern

Every neighborhood should have a place like the Yellow Dog Tavern—elegant, yet comfortable, with good food, great drinks and friendly service. The Yellow Dog has a loyal following among its neighbors in Canton and Highlandtown. Previously, the place was known as Mike's Happy Hour—a neighborhood dive bar that didn't serve Natty Boh in a dingy atmosphere to be ironic. It was just a hole. If you wanted food at Mike's, your choices included microwave pizza, microwave popcorn or potato chips. Now, after major renovations, including the addition of a full kitchen and the transformation of the upstairs apartment into an upscale dining room, the Yellow Dog has emerged as a place in which you'll actually want to spend some time and you won't leave wondering if you need a shot of penicillin.

Drinks: Drinks at the Yellow Dog are consistently well-made. The first drink is as good as the fourth. Nothing's worse than ordering the same drink and having one taste like lighter fluid and the next one taste like a virgin daiquiri. This also isn't the kind of place where you have to ask the bartender to put a slice of lime in your drink. He just knows it should be there. Order one of the bar's specialty drinks like the orange crush and the bartender doesn't reach for a jug of Tropicana; you get fresh-squeezed oranges. The melon and pomegranate mojitos are tasty, fruit-flavored alternatives to beer. The bar also features a wide variety of wines by the glass, and, to keep things fresh, the selection changes on a monthly basis.

Decor: It's evident that a great deal of time, effort and money have been put into the Yellow Dog's decor. However, much of the renovations weren't even done by the current owners. The person who was supposed to open the Yellow Dog died when most of the work was complete but before he could open for business. He planned to name the place after his yellow Labrador retriever. The current owners—also dog lovers—kept the name in honor of the previous owner. The tavern now sports exposed brick walls, wrought iron railings and an oak and granite bar—even the window sills are granite. Other details, like the art work from local artists hanging in the bar and dining room and huge arrangements of fresh flowers, add an extra touch of class.

Crowd: One word would best describe the crowd here: Couples. This is a great place to bring a date or someone special. That's not to say that singletons aren't welcome. There were a few people at the bar who appeared to arrive solo, but nearly everyone else was paired off two-by-two. Age-wise, the majority of customers were your typical Canton bar demographic of mid-to-late 20s to mid-30s.

Insider tip: Although the Yellow Dog is a great place to have a drink, it would be a waste not to have dinner here. Dishes like the Portobello stack appetizer (layers of mushroom, onion and spinach with sun-dried tomato and cashew pesto and Parmesan) or the shellfish pasta (think mussels, shrimp, scallops and lump crab meat in a roasted tomato and garlic sauce) are not to be missed. In addition to dinner, the bar also serves brunch on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mimosas anyone? Another can't miss are the monthly art receptions. That's when Yellow Dog showcases its new wines for the coming month.

Bottom line: The only downside to the Yellow Dog is its hours. It's only open 5-11 p.m., Monday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. on the weekends. It's closed Sundays. But when the place is open, even if you don't live in the neighborhood, the Yellow Dog could easily become one of your favorite hangouts.

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