Hops and Hounds beer garden opens in Oak Ridge

April 3, 2024 by Ben Pounds

A dog-friendly beer garden in Oak Ridge is preparing to have its grand opening Saturday, April 6.

Hops and Hounds opened earlier this year and has already hosted a Saint Patrick’s Day party drawing in more than 50 customers.

People have been coming even without dogs to the patio to watch March Madness games.

The business is at 317 Belgrade Road. Hops and Hounds bought the site from the Houndry, which had operated the site as The Back Yard, similarly a beer venue to which people could bring dogs.

“They had the vision,” said co-owner Bela Parrott regarding the Houndry. “It’s just now we’re executing it.” His co-owner and wife Maggie Parrott said the Houndry had wanted to focus on a dog-walking business.

“We feel pretty confident,” she said regarding their ability to keep the business open.

Bela Parrott said he expects to hire more employees by the end of the summer.

Hops and Hounds has different areas.

Visitors can enjoy an on-leash area resembling a more-traditional beer garden. It also includes human games like Connect-Four and darts.

Guests can also play with their dogs in an off-leash area, which has its own tennis balls guests can throw. Unlike other areas of Hops and Hounds, the off-leash area has cover charges. The one-day fee is $8 per dog. Ten-day memberships are $60, monthly memberships are $30 and yearly memberships are $300.

The off-leash area also has rules for the sake of safety. Dogs must be spayed or neutered and have had vaccines, and humans must be over the age of 6. They must not bring outside food, which Hops and Hounds allows elsewhere.

“We don’t want them fighting over a slice of pizza,” Bela Parrott said of the dogs.

Visitors can also enjoy sitting, watching TV, drinking and eating food from visiting food trucks in a central patio area between these fenced-in parks.

“We’re a beer garden that is dog-focused, not a dog park that is beer-focused,” said Parrott, adding that people without dogs have enjoyed coming, too.

Hops and Hounds has a special deal with the beer company Tri-Hop, making it the only location in Oak Ridge to sell its nine Tri-Hop beers.

Still, Maggie Parrott who owns five dogs along with Bela, pointed out that the dogs do make a difference for customers.

“Dogs are just a good starting point for conversation,” she said. “Everybody loves to talk about their dogs.”

“I haven’t seen anybody on their phones except to take a picture of a dog,” Bela Parrott said.

Hops and Hounds isn’t the only craft-beer place in Oak Ridge.

Last year, The Greens began brewing and serving its beers at a still operational miniature golf course.

And Crafter’s Brew has for years sold craft beer from around the world in Oak Ridge.

Due to the Tri Hop deal, Bela Parrott said there wasn’t much overlap in terms of beer, and the off-leash area made his establishment different from others.

“I’m trying to be different,” he said. “I think all of these businesses around us should be complementary.

“That’s kind of my goal here ... you get off work, you grab your furry friend, you come and hang out with your two-legged friend and your four-legged friend, have a couple beers and then you take that dog back after it’s tuckered out. And then you go to Crafter’s or Buffalo Grille or Calhoun’s. You know, some of these more-traditional spots. I think we can all be complementary businesses instead of really competing.”

He said he’d stored two of Crafter’s Brew’s kegs at his location at one point to help that business out.

Similarly, after someone stole supplies from Hops and Hounds, competing businesses offered to help and even promote the business.

Maggie Parrott said Crafter’s Brew and The Greens both posted Hops and Hounds fliers.

“I have traveled the entire world for a living for 20-plus years, and there’s not a spot on Earth like this,” he said od Anderson County “You really do have a sense of community here.”

He said he hopes to give back through fundraisers for Friends of Oak Ridge Animal Shelter.



e 20 ounce pour for paws, allows for people to give $10 for a $20 ounce beer and all profit will go toward shelters, rescues and other animal charities.