This new-to-Fresno restaurant has bison meatloaf and a menu for dogs. It opens Monday

There’s something different about Fresno’s newest restaurant – and it’s not just because the meatloaf is made from bison and wrapped in bacon.

In addition to the creative cuisine, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar caters to both humans and their dogs.

The highly-anticipated restaurant opens at 11 a.m. Monday at 7965 N. Blackstone Ave.

It’s a restaurant Fresnans have kept an eye on ever since work started transforming the former Elephant Bar into the business with a big stone tower out front.

Although there’s a menu just for dogs here, Lazy Dog is first and foremost a restaurant. You don’t need to be a dog lover to enjoy it. And if you eat indoors, you won’t even have to deal with any dogs.

Even if dogs weren’t a part of its schtick, the creative menu – rocky road pancakes and a PB&J burger, for example – would still attract diners.

Lazy Dog is a growing chain based in Huntington Beach with 26 locations in California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. It’s named after founder Chris Simms’ experience skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He returned to the lodge and saw a dog sleeping in front of a fire. The dog’s obvious contentment inspired the restaurant, with a lodge-type theme and the idea that customers’ every need would be taken care of.

But this is no typical chain restaurant.

The food is eclectic. About 70 percent of the menu is comfort food interpreted by a modern chef.

So that meatloaf, for example, is made from grass-fed bison, wrapped in smoked bacon, served with sauteed spinach and piled with high with fried haystack onions.

“We put a little chef’s twist on it,” said Lazy Dog’s regional culinary director Sean Montes.

A brownie on the dessert menu is served with vanilla ice cream, but also topped with a housemade marshmallow that’s toasted with a kitchen blowtorch until gooey.

There are also sandwiches, noodle dishes, burgers, pizza and Asian bowls like where customers pick their protein.

The remaining 30 percent of the menu features seasonal and trendy items. Those items change six times a year, with the company striving to stay ahead of food trends, Montes said.

Right now that menu features lightly fried deviled eggs topped with smoked paprika and bacon candy. That PB&J burger really has peanut butter and jelly on it, along with havarti cheese and candied bacon. A Cornish game hen served with sausage and sweet corn stuffing is Lazy Dog’s alternative to a fall turkey dish.

“We try to work with the seasons as much as possible,” Montes said.

The dogs

Clearly, dogs are welcome here.

“Hey, bring your dogs,” Montes said. “They’re just as much a part of the family as everybody else.”

A menu just for dogs offers grilled hamburger patty with brown rice or grilled chicken with brown rice for $4.95. A bowl of water is free.

Dogs are only allowed on the patio and there are rules.

Specifically, Fido must avoid the three Bs: Barking, biting and begging. No dogs on chairs or laps, they must stay on leashes and servers can’t touch the dogs (because dog hair and serving food don’t mix).

The dog theme is strong here, with pawprints on the edge of every table, beer taps mounted on a red fire hydrant and a dog sculpture made from repurposed wrenches, spark plugs and other bits of metal.

The drinks

Lazy Dog has its own line of beer and a beer club. Its six beers, including the huckleberry haze IPA and tilted saddle saison, are made by a brewer using Lazy Dog’s recipe.

The restaurant has 30 taps total and customers can order flights of six taster-size beers.

A beer club, similar to a wine club, costs $35 per quarter. That gets customers eight craft beers to take home and a Lazy Dog cooler tote.

The bar also has a big cocktail menu, including non-alcoholic drinks.

There are more zero-proof options than other restaurants, including drinks like a strawberry-citrus soda and cucumber-thyme lemonade.

“We make everything behind that bar that goes into the drinks,” Montes said. “We try to stay ahead of the trends.”

That means infusing the bourbon with maple each morning and using fresh pomegranate arils in the drinks.

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 12:34 PM.