BY Laura Latzko
Restaurants are reopening after Gov. Doug Ducey lifted COVID-19 restrictions. Others are being cautious while offering fun options for customers.
The Daily Dose Kitchen and Bar — a locally owned restaurant with locations in Old Town Scottsdale, Midtown Phoenix and Tempe — is hooking up pet parents with a night out.
Every third Thursday through June, the Daily Dose’s Midtown Bar and Grill at 20th Street and Highland Avenue will hold its Doggy Date Night with social distancing and COVID-19 guidelines in place.
On the menu is special $6 doggy entrees, including a burger patty and pieces of bacon, grilled chicken with a grain blend, and scrambled eggs with bacon. To wrap it up, they get all-natural treats from Dogs Eating Cake.
Co-owner JenLyn Long says the monthly event takes place on a pet-friendly patio.
“We want establish it as something to do, a fun thing to look forward to,” Long says. “It gives you a reason to go out during the week, meet other people with dogs and have a nice time.”
Doggy parents have options like turkey meatballs with goat cheese, loaded fries, nachos, chorizo mac and cheese, classic or specialty burgers, Southwestern veggie chili, roasted baby back ribs, homemade onion rings or panko-crusted chicken fingers.
Daily Dose also serves signature cocktails such as hibiscus, spicy watermelon and pineapple margaritas, as well as lime rose mojitos.
A portion of the proceeds from the monthly event will go to the Arizona Humane Society, which also benefited from the chain’s Doggie Bag Dine Out.
Daily Dose also has a healthy partnership with Habitat for Humanity. It sells discounted lunch boxes to those working with the organization and donating a portion of proceeds back to the nonprofit.
The three Daily Dose restaurants are known for their “urban mom and pop” ambiances and for foods such as cinnamon roll pancakes, banana bread French toast, breakfast nachos and the hangover sandwich.
Long and her husband, Matt, opened their first restaurant in Scottsdale in 2008 and followed with Phoenix and Tempe in 2012 and 2020, respectively.
Long says Daily Dose is committed to offering fresh food.
“My husband is great in the kitchen,” she says. “We make our own sauces. We make our own salsa. We roast our own garlic.”
The restaurant chain recently reopened dinner at its Midtown store from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays to bring in revenue after the pandemic restrictions. Long hopes Doggy Date Night will show patrons what the restaurant has to offer.
“We are trying to give people a good reason to come out, bring their dog and enjoy dinner,” she says. “We want to help the Humane Society at the same time that we give them a reason to come out during the night.”
