Bethesda Beer Garden Going to the Dogs
A new $2 million funding round by Bark Social is paving the way for expansion
By Keith Loria February 2, 2022 5:00 pm
reprints
Bark Social, an off-leash dog park, beer garden and coffee house with one location in North Bethesda, Md., is expanding.
The company announced it completed a $2 million financing round, bringing its total funding to $5.3 million, to open new locations throughout the East Coast, including new sites in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Columbia, Md., Frederick, Md., and Northern Virginia.
“Additional funding has allowed us to grow into new markets and bring the one-of-a-kind Bark Social experience to communities up and down the East Coast,” Luke Silverman, Bark Social’s co-founder, said in a prepared statement. “Expanding Bark Social while growing the dog lover community is one of our biggest goals. …We are thrilled that more dogs and dog lovers alike will have a safe and playful space to enjoy some of life’s greatest pleasures — dogs, beer and coffee.”
It opened its first location at 939 Prose Street at Pike & Rose last February.
The Baltimore location is slated for 3822 Boston Street and is scheduled to open in the next few months. The search for sites in the District and Northern Virginia are still being conducted.
Other future locations include Richmond, Charlottesville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and North Jersey. The company is also in discussions to bring its concept to Southeast Florida and Southern California.
The Bethesda location is 25,000 square feet. and will feature a craft beer, wine and coffee bar and a professionally monitored off-leash dog park.
Bark Social expects to open three more locations in 2022, according to the company.
Requests for further comment were not immediately returned.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
