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Mutts Canine Cantina, the Dallas-based dog park, restaurant, and bar, is looking to open three locations in Austin. The first will be found in the Lakeline area at 9825 North Lake Creek Parkway this summer. Originally, it was supposed to open on August 10, but it’s been postponed with no new opening date yet.
The expansion makes sense since most of Austin is already very dog-friendly. “We knew the Austin area would really embrace the concept of an upscale dog park with a cool cantina attached,” says the Austin franchisees, co-owners, and sisters Laura Ladewig Landers and Lisa Ladewig in a statement back in 2019.
The way Mutts works: people sign up for one of three membership plans (daily, monthly, or annual), which will gain them access to Mutts. Once there, dogs can run around and play in Mutts’ dog park overseen by staffers while people eat and drink at the restaurant and bar.
Food-wise, there are general American dishes, like chicken sandwiches, burgers, fries, breakfast tacos, and grilled cheese with crispy pickles. For drinks, there are margaritas, Texas mules, frozen drinks, boozy and non-boozy milkshakes, wines, and beer.
Dogs can partake in the canine-friendly fare: small hot dogs and frozen popsicles made with beef broth, peanut butter, and an edible bone. The Austin location features 1.6 acres with various dog parks, a splash area, dog washing stations, patios, fire pits, and private cabanas.
Its hours will be from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and then from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Members can go into the park from 5 a.m. to midnight daily, but there won’t be dog staffers on-site during non-business hours.
The first Mutts opened in 2013 in Dallas by FreeRange Concepts founders Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz. They expanded with a Fort Worth location in 2018. The other two Mutts Canine Cantina locations in Austin would potentially be found in four other areas: Round Rock, West Lake, Leander/Cedar Park, and central/downtown. They’re also eying expansions in Arizona and Nevada.
Austin’s first proper dog park/restaurant/bar Yard Bar opened in August 2015 in Allandale. Relatedly, there’s dog park and food truck Dog House Drinkery in Leander, and dog park and cafe Neighbors in South Austin.
Update, August 2, 2023: This article, originally published on February 12, 2019, has been updated to include Mutts’s first Austin address and the now-postponed opening date.
