Dog House Backdoor

The Dog House used to be a magnificant place. But then the owner seemed to get burned out and eventually died. The food and service continued to go down hill. I think the daughter took over and was told she alienated most of the town regulars. By the sound of the reviews she obviously offended the tourists too. I was a funky place with a funky menu. At one time they had delicious fish and chips, chili and interesting veg. soup with a funky name, awesome burgers. Last time I was there (maybe a year ago) our order never made it to the kitchen hence never to the table but still received a bill. We just left money on the table for the beer and walked out. No one paid attention. The energy was seriously negative and was no longer a fun place. It's closed now and hopefully the people who run/ran it are wise enough to stay out of the restuarant business. It's a place with awesome potential and I hope it opens again under new management.It was really sad to see the closed/for sale sign this summer. more

Their made from scratch Health Nut Burger was the best Ive ever had! The place had a great vibe and I loved the decorations. I can understand that not everyone would like it there. It wasnt fancy, but regulars like myself were part of the doghouse family. Also, the restaurant held up to 100 people and usually only had one waitress covering the whole place, bar included. So if service was ever slow, I understood. Some people just arent used to the slow pace of Whidbey Island I guess. more

The Dog House is a local gem, at least in my opinion, it is a Tavern at heart which generally means the service slow, but than again so is island living, which in my opinion is fine. I had the Taco Salad it was very good and spicy, as for the person who did not like their taco salad, it was clearly labeled as spicy and hot. Like I stated the service isn't the best but come on people it's a tavern. more

My husband and I never miss going to the DGB whenever we're up this way. We sail the San Juans and have a few favs - this is definitely one of them. Stop here for the ambiance, the view, the ribs and the fish & chis. A fun place. more

I ALSO HAD A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE HERE! THE TACO SALAD CAME AFTER WAITING 45 MINUTES AND IT WAS SO HOT AND SPICY IT BURNED THE S**** OUT OF MY MOUTH AND I COULD NOT EAT IT. THE OWNER WAS CALLED OVER SO I COULD TELL HER I COULD NOT EAT IT AND SHE JUST GAVE A FAKE SMILE AND SAID IN A SNOTTY MANNER, "OH...SO SORRY." AND STARTED CLEARING THE TABLE. I GOT THE BILL, NATURALLY NOTHING WAS TAKEN OFF FOR THE UNEDIBLE SALAD AND I PAID IT BUT VOWED TO TELL EVERYONE OF MY EXPERIENCE. IF I HAVE COST THEM THE PRICE OF JUST ONE MEAL WITH MY WARNINGS IT IS WORTH IT. DON'T PASS UP LANGLEY, BUT PLEASE, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD PASS UP THIS PLACE! more

Just wanted to write a brief review of this place, one my husband and I go to every time we go up north and travel the islands. We love coming back here because of the food and the ambiance. This is a non-pretentious, local pub with the best dining view on Whidbey Island. The last visit consisted of 6 people - all adults - and we had a great time. The service can be a little slow on Fridays and Saturdays, but their live music and no-BS atmosphere more than made up for it. Not a place for the kiddies! This is more of an adult crash pad for those who love funky memorabilia and good pub grub. Cheers! (www.thedoghousetavern.net) more

We visited the Dog House, and boy did it feel like we were in the dog house! Our experience was much like that of Jason S. We arrive around 12:30 for lunch, and the place is kind of busy but not packed. We order some beer and get our menus - OK so far. After the drinks arrive, we order our lunches. We notice a sign that says it's usually a minimum of 20 minutes after you order before you receive your food. We can handle that. Well, about 40 minutes go buy, and no food. The 4 and 6 year old girls in our party are getting a bit antsy by now so we flag down our waiter and ask if they could hurry and bring out the hot dog and chips and salsa (how hard is that?) for the girls. Sure, no problem he says. Another half our passes, and not even a hot dog shows up. Back to the waiter - now the 'tude begins. How dare we ask for our food after waiting an hour and fifteen minutes? At this point, we see others who came in after us getting their food so we turn up the bitching. It proves pointless. About 2 hours after our arrival, food begins to appear - one or two meals at a time (there were 8 of us) about 10 minutes apart. One meal never arrived. We ask our waiter to bring the check. All we get is a piece of paper with number scribbled on it. Back to the manager - we say this is ridiculous; they wait was unbearable, the food poor, and the check indecipherable. She she had comped us the last meal -the one we never got! We said we were happy to pay for the drinks but shouldn't have to pay for meals that we couldn't even eat together. Her response "Just get out of my restaurant!" We took are advice. This person has no business running a restaurant or any other service business. That is 2 hours of my life I will never get back... more

My family and I will absolutely never go back and will tell everyone we know not to go. We waited over ONE HOUR to get any of the five meals we ordered, and when it finally was brought out only two of the five orders were delivered. The rest came 15 minutes later. Unbelievably, the staff didn't seem to really care that we were waiting that long. To top off this nightmare experience, a "manager" came over (we thought, naively, to apologize) and chastized us for our two-year old getting out of his seat, as if we would somehow be able to contain a child that age after forcing him to sit in one place for 75 minutes plus. If you do go through Langley, skip this place at all costs. more

Never mind that the Dog House is in swanky Langley on South Whidbey Island. It's a down-and-dirty locals bar that doesn't look down on tourists (too much). The chili is almost nothing but spicy meat, but that's what real chili is all about. The burgers are pretty good and the grilled cheese sandwich is good enough to satisfy a picky two year-old. Skip the bar and sit in the back where you can look out over the water and maybe you'll see a whale. more