It’s a question that was answered with a resounding “yes” even before Top Dawg Tavern technically opened its doors in Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina.
“We were able to get our licensing pushed through so we could at least open the patio bar for the Fourth of July, and so many residents told us, ‘Just keep the bar open.’ So, we kept it open to give people a place to go before and after Shannon Tanner shows,” said Brett Summers, co-owner of Top Dawg Tavern along with his wife Renee. “We’ve never done that before.”
And there have been a few openings during the couples’ lifetime. The Hilton Head location represents the fifth Top Dawg Tavern the couple has opened since unleashing the concept outside the fabled dawg pound of the University of Georgia almost nine years ago. A sixth, planned for Jacksonville, Fla. will open soon.
It’s a resounding success story, given what the last few years have meant for the restaurant industry. “It was a gut check,” Brett said. “But we were able to flip a switch in terms of what we have to offer.”
And what they have to offer is one of those restaurant concepts that seems so blindingly obvious in terms of appeal, you wonder how the island went without one for so long. The name Top Dawg Tavern, with its oblique reference to UGA athletics, plus the TVs that ring the dining room broadcasting a world of sports, might make you think that you were entering a sports bar.
Make no mistake, Top Dawg Tavern isn’t a sports bar. There are sports, yes. And a bar. But that’s not the half of it.
“It’s more of a gathering place,” Brett said. “We make it more family-friendly, with a focus on the kids…. Our whole thing is, we didn’t want you to say, ‘I’m taking my family out on a Saturday night to a sports bar.’”
Parents, you already have your guard up and we get it. You’ve been burned before. You think family-friendly, and your mind goes racing to visions of animatronic rats and highchairs sticky with dried Pepsi. Top Dawg Tavern isn’t that either. This is the place where the parents can unwind with a few beverages and some great food, while the kids enjoy some fun of their own in the “Little Dawghouse.”
“The space we’re in used to have this big wood-fired oven for pizzas. That’s space you don’t want to lose, so we decided to make that into the kids’ room,” Renee said. Inside, it’s a private VIP club just for the SpongeBob set, with a bubble machine, strobe lights and interactive games projected from the ceiling to keep the kids good and worn out.
“So far our daughter has loved it,” Renee said. “She brings in every kid she can. And that’s going to be good for the adults, because it keeps the kids active and doing something besides looking at electronics.”
And as one parent to another, I should tell you about three beautiful words that appear on the menu: $5 kids meals. As a parent of three, the author realizes that may be all you need to know.
“That value piece is part of the whole menu,” Brett said. Having spent years in the restaurant industry at an executive level, Brett was able to create relationships with suppliers that have given him the purchasing power of a large chain. The result is a menu priced like a chain but prepared with the dedication of the mom-and-pop eatery that Top Dawg Tavern is.
A restaurant with a pedigree like Top Dawg Tavern will naturally draw you in with pub fare like wings and burgers, and you’ll find some truly inspired selections on the menu to accompany any big game. But as with the concept itself, you’ll find so much more, like filet bites, stir fry, fish and chips, and the build-your-own-salad.
“The menu is definitely something that has developed as the concept has grown,” Renee said. “We’re not just a sports bar, so you need to offer something different.”
Putting a bow on the whole package is the dazzling waterside location for Top Dawg Tavern. While their Augusta location is right outside the gates of Augusta National, their Hilton Head Island restaurant represents the first placed in a spot constantly bustling with both residents and visitors. For the couple, who live in Mt. Pleasant with their nine-year-old daughter, it was a natural fit.
“We love Hilton Head so much,” Brett said. And their Shelter Cove location represents a rare opportunity to test out a family dining concept. “It’s a beautiful setting … and I’ve loved working with the people at Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina and Greenwood Communities & Resorts. They’ve been absolutely brilliant partners.”
And as far as a test of concept goes, you can’t ask for a better result than diners demanding you open weeks before you’re actually open.
Top Dawg Tavern is located at 13 Harbourside Lane in the heart of Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina. Visit topdawgtavern.com to find out more.
A House Divided
As you’d expect from its Athens, Ga. roots and its name, Top Dawg Tavern owes much of its pedigree to UGA. But as Brett is an Oklahoma Sooner fan, the restaurant’s name is also a reference to OU’s basketball mascot Top Daug.
With Renee being a die-hard Georgia fan, you can imagine what the Summers house was like during the two programs’ sole meeting, the instant classic that was the 2018 Rose Bowl. While Oklahoma dominated in the first half, after two overtimes it was the Dawgs who came out ahead.
“We had a party over, too. A whole bunch of Georgia fans,” Brett said. “I’d rather lose to Georgia than to Texas, I’ll tell you that much.”
