James Watt delivers final verdict on Dog Eat Dog, Islington ‘what were we thinking?’
The Brewdog site in Essex Rd Islington, just a few minutes walk from Islington Green (but arguably in the wrong direction) was not been blessed with success.
Opening in the autumn of 2015 it was originally a beer and hotdog outlet, DogEatDog. I thought it was OK but it didn’t work, and it was shut and briefly replaced by the Punk Kitchen. The idea here was to host month long street food pop ups but it lasted only a couple of months and closed towards the end of 2016.
In 2017 the premises was been empty and, reportedly, on the market. That didnt work either as Brewdog submitted a licensing application in the Autumn of 2017 for a Hopworks outlet.
The Hopworks concept revolved around installing small brew kits where people could brew their own beer with the help of Brewdog operatives.
That didn’t work either and after three attempts Brewdog gave up and the site became an indy craft beer bar of decent but no great distinction (Essexhouse). That closed during the course of the pandemic. I pass by the site occasionally on the 73 bus but thanks to @kientan74 for alerting me on X that its currently Hollow Rocks a sports & social place, or as they describe it a boutique gym..
Watt’s comments came in a Q&A on his Insta site on 16th May when asked about things Brewdog had done that he didn’t like.
It rather suggests that Brewdog are still stuck with the lease.
Craft beer originally was perhaps about locality, community and values different to those of Big Beer. Yet Brewdog which has opened and closed numbers of sites in London doesn’t seem great on understanding the ebbs and flows of the Great Wen.
The road with bars and restaurants in central Islington is Upper St. Essex Rd, which runs immediately parallel a short distance away is a rather different space as James Watt presumably now reflects particularly as he now partly lives not that far away.
Leave a Reply