My wife and I have been to multiple Other Half tap rooms, always with dogs, countless times, and given Other Half thousands and thousands of dollars of business over the course of nearly a decade. (Higher-ups, if you're reading this, take note, because that is how much business the staff at Centre St. just lost you).
Not every experience has been perfect, but that's to be expected over such a long course of time. But today, for the first time in that long history, we were mistreated in such a way that we may never be back.
Today, we were dog sitting for a good friend's dog who we know very well, and who we've taken out in public more than once. This dog is very well behaved around other dogs and people, but like many dogs, may get very loudly vocal in the presence of other dogs, out of excitement and wanting to meet or play. Surely any dog-friendly establishment understands that many dogs are like this and by opening your doors to dogs you would expect it at least occasionally if not frequently.
Again, I can't emphasize enough how many times we've been to your tap rooms and how much business we've given you over the years. There have been very few problems, and any until today have been water under the bridge. We like your beer. We like your tap rooms. We like bringing our dog - and sometimes others - because we always feel welcome, and we know dogs are also welcome.
We spent a little under 90 minutes at the Centre Street tap room today and spent more time than that commuting there to get an order we placed for pickup. During that 90 or so minutes, the dog we were watching, as well as our own, was approached by (and smiled at by) many patrons who on more than one occasion complimented them for their good behavior and happy demeanor. All was well, good vibes, great experience for us and the dogs as always. Augie, the dog we are taking care of this weekend, would occasionally bark for a few seconds (or a minute) if he caught sight of one of the several other dogs who were there, or if one approached. Only then, and for no other reason, and not for very long, and certainly not long enough to warrant any complaints from patrons or anyone else.
As we were preparing to leave, we used the restroom in shifts, as we knew it would be a long car ride home. During the 1-2 minutes I was in the bathroom, I could hear Augie barking the whole time. I'm sure he was concerned that I was gone, and also interested in the 2 dogs near our table. When my wife went to use the rest room, and he continued barking because she was gone, I was approached by a bartender and told that Augie was barking too much. Not only that, but I was told that Other Half has a "2-minute barking policy", by which any dog barking for more than 2 minutes is deemed to be a disturbance which means action should be taken. I was "nicely" asked to leave, even though I was still waiting for my wife to return from the restroom. We were leaving anyway, but instead of handling the situation with a bit more kindness and understanding, the bartender was quite rude, so much so that the people at the table next to us told me "We're so sorry that happened to you."
As we were closing our tab, I asked if anyone could point me to this "2-minute barking policy". If a bartender is going to step in and treat me so rudely over a dog barking for 2 minutes while my wife and I use the restroom, I at least would like to know for sure that there is actually some policy I've violated by allowing this dog to bark for more than 2 minutes.
Another bartender stepped in and decided to escalate the situation, because I'm sure knowing that there is no such policy was not very convenient in the moment, and knowing that I was right to be upset, and knowing my wife and I (and our dogs) had been mistreated by the staff, there was really no good way to continue the conversation. Any customer who is mistreated in such a way has every right to be concerned if not angry, and yet because I insisted on knowing more about this "2-minute barking policy", I was told to "grow up".
I promised to share a detailed account as soon as I got home, and here it is. Other Half Centre St. is no longer a dog-friendly establishment, so bring your dog at your own risk, knowing you may be rudely asked to leave if a minute or 2 of barking annoys the staff.
Allow me to politely suggest 2 things: If you hate dogs, don't go to public places where there are dogs.
And if you hate dogs, don't work at one. It was clear to me that the bartender who approached me was simply so annoyed that, after 90 minutes of good behavior, 2 minutes of barking was so unacceptable that she had to invent a non-existent policy to justify her rude mistreatment of a customer.
As I told both bartenders: We will never be back. Actions have consequences, and I will never go anywhere that allows its staff to be so shamelessly nasty to its customers and their furry companions.
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