Good Dog Closing Atlantic City Location After Less Than Two Years
The offshoot of the popular Center City bar will say goodbye on August 11th.
The Atlantic City location of Good Dog, which is closing for good on August 11th. / Photograph courtesy Good Dog Atlantic City
I was just at the Atlantic City offshoot of Philadelphia’s Good Dog bar and restaurant a couple of weeks ago. It was a gorgeous summer Wednesday. The Atlantic City Boardwalk and beaches were crowded. Good Dog was running some beautiful menu specials as well as their weekly half-priced canned beer promo. And as I sat there quietly eating my lunch in a room that may have had a couple of other customers in it, a meal that followed other meals at Good Dog with a similarly barren bar and restaurant, I wondered how much longer the Atlantic City version could hold on. Unfortunately, the answer is not much longer.
Good Dog AC is closing for good on Sunday, August 11th. Considering that the restaurant opened in May of 2023 — notably in what used to be a sex club — Sunday will make just over 15 months in business. Only one full summer.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we must share some difficult news,” wrote Good Dog owners Heather Gleason and Dave Gary in a statement on Monday morning. “Due to circumstances here in Atlantic City that have deeply impacted our operations and financial health, we have made the tough decision to close our Good Dog Bar AC location.”
“Despite all our tireless efforts and dedication to keeping Good Dog Bar in Atlantic City thriving, the economic challenges we have faced here have become insurmountable,” the statement continued. “We were so excited to open this restaurant, but with properties that we expected to be open still waiting for permits, along with the cancellation of the Air Show and no live [beach] concerts scheduled for the rest of the summer, we’ve concluded that there is just not going to be enough customers to support our business. This Sunday, August 11, will be our last day open.”
Gleason and Gary, who have a home in Atlantic City, say they plan to turn their focus fully back on Good Dog Philadelphia, which has been thriving on 15th Street for two decades.
