The Orange Dog Bar and Grill

This place has potential, but it is not where it needs to be yet. I have been here 3X and I really want to love it, but I am still on the fence.
Atmosphere is cool, they have done some recent remodeling which has opened the place up. Hipster lounge furniture makes it very comfortable.
The food: They pride themselves on the World of Wings, but I am not a fan. I am a wing guy and these just don’t measure up. The apps are safe and I thought the pulled pork sandwich was above average.
Great place to drink a beer and enjoy live music. My wife and I enjoy live music and have been to the Orange Dog to see Party Jones. I will try it again soon and continue to hope that they find their food niche.
One thing that did annoy me was that they kept the front door open on a cold night. The breeze was blowing on our table and it was less than ideal. I will avoid sitting on that side of the restaurant next time.
Great crowds on Friday nights. Seem like great folks, I am rooting for them.

I was here Saturday night deceived by my mindless lack of calendar cordination (no Hangover and sober too) but that is another story-​ask Chad A. and Laura S.
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I was here Tuesday for a venue that boggled the mind and was a true test of my OCD recollection ablities.
Nice place with potential, just the right amount of lighting and the bar in the back is a good place for you to zero in on where the social lubricating libations await.
The staff is wonderful and spot on in service.
The food is far better than many a bar fare I’ve eaten and kept my buzz at a 7!
The potential is here and getting better so, Salty Dog Bar & Grille keep barking and doing your thing which is being a spot I definately intend on coming back to for a good time with friends place.
Oh Dan H. said the owner or manager would take his shirt off to audition for me at bartending… what candles did I light in Italy at the church to bring me such debaucherous joy for this Christmas gift! WOOF!!!
Doggone Right:

This should probably be a 3 star review but I am giving them the ol’ growing pains consideration.
The great;
The super friendly owner, Kevin. One of my favorite bartenders ever, Joe (knew him from Lucille’s/Tustin District) is the manager/​btender. I wont go as far as Laura S did in calling him angelic, but he is one energetic hilarious fella. Damn awesome btender too.
The taco Tuesdays: 2 tacos for $ 2, and $ 2 domestics, not positive they are still doing this, as it’s been a couple weeks since I asked about it. The guitar/​singing duo, also on Tuesdays. These guys are actually very talented and worth listening to. Drinks are very generous on the alcohol.
The good;
Fish tacos, with very fresh tasting fish and likewise for the warm soft flour tortillas. Comes 3 large to an order for less than $ 8. Wings are also decent, with a great variety of flavors.
The soon to be improved on (hopefully);
No salsa for my tacos? I have ordered them 3 times and each time they came w/​o. And each time I asked I was given Tapatio and or some other bottled concoction. They need to throw some salsa making ingredients into a blender for salty dogs sake. Not that difficult. The gumbo was waaay too salty, Joe passed my comment on to the chef, I’ll try once more to see what happened. After all it IS called The Salty Dog Bar & Grille, NOT The Salty Gumbo Bar & Grille. Right?
The service: It’s not necessarily the staff themselves, especially since the confused looking lass that called Laura «high maintenance» no longer is employed here. It’s just that they are under staffed when ever they have a brief rush. I totally get it that they are new and its hard to predict whether they will have 4 or 5 patrons at any given time or 20, but the waits when it is busy can be way too long when 2 ppl are running the show. I look for this to improve once the crowds are more consistent.
I am truly pulling for this close to home spot and can see much potential for a cheers type atmosphere. The interior is still a work in progress as Kevin has some booths and other furnishings on order. They have several flat screens throughout the bar area and dining room with more planned.
Looking forward to seeing a rapid positive evolvement in the coming weeks/​months. It is def needed in this part of HB. Come on Kevin, Joe, and Jill! Make it happen… please. Thanks!

Wings Galore
The Salty Dog is on the corner of Beach & Ellis right next to the Shell Gasoline Station. This newly opened restaurant has a very casual feel with a Canadian twist. Maybe it’s because the owners seems to be Canadian & they recently hosted a Canadian extravaganza. We waltzed in during the lunchtime hour and it seems as though they’re still working out the kinks and transforming the joint to their liking.
We walked past the unarmed host stand and was greeted by the owner to come on in & have a seat anywhere. The bartender was the only official front of house staff on duty so there was a little bit of a wait throughout our whole stay. The décor itself was plain and the venue was pretty airy & open. Lots of white walls! I’m sure they’ll start to glam up the place over time.
Highlights & Low-​lights:
*Menu is a little slim but they have some good pickin’s
*Man do they have a wide variety of wings with flavors inspired by countries across the world
*Sausage Mac & Cheese is indeed yummy but it’s personally super oily for me
*Staff was nice and personable
*Drink prices were average
*They have some TVs in the bar area & they seem to be Monday Night Football friendly
Why 3 stars?
Well, this place didn’t really wow me and my family– ambiance & food wise. Everything just seemed average and plain. Nonetheless, I’m all about the second chances and once I hear that this place is up & poppin’… we’ll try to make our way back for another visit and this time order some wings since we didn’t have a chance to do so the first time.

I’ll jump on the perfectly cooked underseasoned wings wagon with Steven N and Richard T.
It’s weird because all of the wings sound so flavorful on the menu. Passion fruit/​mango… green peppercorn… wasabi honey… sounds good, right? And they are, during the 5% of the time you get a bite with enough seasoning/​sauce.
After everyone else was done and I stopped having to worry about double dipping, I literally rolled my wings around in the wasabi aioli sauce in an attempt to get some spice going. Nothing doing.
They ARE perfectly cooked though. And all the servers are nice. And they handle a trivia night well. And the seats are comfortable and it isn’t too loud in there to hear yourself think, which is super unusual for a bar. So overall I’m OK with them.