Where Dogs Bring Their Humans
Text+photos. Jorge Perezchica
Pass by Boozehounds on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs and two things stand out immediately: the wavy mid-century rooftop structure strutting for attention and the towering profile of Striker, that’s Boozehounds’ logo inspired by owners Jimmy McGill and Steve Piacenza’s beloved dog emblazoned across the front facade. Together with brand developer Jenna Murray of Spilled Milk Creative, and interior designer Jenni-Kate Rogers of Raven and the Willow, creates a contemporary space where people can socialize with their pups. The 7000 sq. ft. venue features a dog-friendly open-air atrium, along with a cabana bar and patio facing the idyllic San Jacinto Mountains. Open 7-days a week for happy hour, dinner service and weekend brunch.
It’s May 19th, a clear Thursday morning — as I make my way through Boozehounds’ entrance, I stop and notice a sign in big, bold text that reads “Where Dogs Bring Their Humans.” And it’s clear to me, this isn’t your ordinary neighborhood restaurant. I step inside and look around the expansive interior. Warm light fills the space with a welcoming glow. Spherical lamps illuminate Boozehounds’ interior design attuned to the desert’s natural surroundings — rich greens, browns and sandy tones create a relaxed and elegant vibe. There is also plenty of fresh plants throughout the building to compliment the decor as if your transported onto a tropical island. The main bar is comfortably located at the center of the room. Cocktail menu drinks include names like boozehounds margarita, aunt donna’s dirty poodle, lil yeller, striker’s afternoon — it wouldn’t be Boozehounds without the booze.
Walk along the hallway towards the restroom, you’ll find black and white photos paying homage to Striker hanging on the walls, adding a personal touch to Boozehounds‘ backstory. While the love for dogs is clearly on display at Boozehounds, there’s also room for cheeky humor, like the neon sign placed at one corner that reads, “Do it Doggy Style.” Or seeing “You Dirty Dog” hanging over a mirror inside the restroom as you stare at your own reflection. Other walls are decorated with mugshots of Elvis, Snoop Dogg and David Bowie.
Here at Boozehounds, your dog gets the royal treatment. The outdoor patio and atrium provides an open space to comfortably dine with your dog. Boozehounds even features a food menu designed just for dogs. All of the menu offerings have been developed with your dogs’ health and safety in mind, states Boozehounds website.
I sat down with co-owner Steve Piacenzato, executive chef Aric Ianni and sous-chef Amber Ferrell for a conversation about the inspiration for Boozehounds, the fun and crazy journey bringing the restaurant together from concept to reality, celebrating a one-year anniversary and more.
“We knew the food had to be elevated. We knew that the drinks had to be amazing to carry out our dream of having this dog friendly space with amazing food and drinks.” — Steve Piacenza, Boozehounds co-owner
Steve Piacenza: Boozehounds was created off an idea that started with dogs. And when the space came up, this massive space — we had to take it. This was during COVID-19, so everything was shut down in the world, basically, including Palm Springs. We worked on it for seven months, night and day to get it to where it is today. We got it “as is” which means, there was no air conditioning refrigeration. The place was a complete disaster. Designed by Jenni Rogers, Bryan Rogers, my partner’s wife and Jimmy McGill is also another partner — we created this space.
If we were gonna have dogs, we knew that people were probably going to think, “Dogs will equal bar food and drinks,” and “it was gonna smell like dog.” That’s a quote from somebody by the way. In fact, it’s not that at all.
We knew the food had to be elevated. We knew that the drinks had to be amazing to carry out our dream of having this dog friendly space with amazing food and drinks. There’s two spaces at Boozehounds, which are completely dog friendly: the atrium and the patio. And then there is the inside dining room, which, no dogs per California are allowed inside. You have the best of both worlds here at Boozehounds.
CM: Boozehounds recently marked its one year anniversary. How did you celebrate?.
STEVE: We had our one year anniversary last Wednesday, which was on the 27th of April and we couldn’t be happier. It’s been a crazy, fun, nutty year figuring this place out. It’s definitely a puzzle, and still the COVID thing, and getting employees, and all that. We have an amazing team now after one year. We couldn’t be happier. And of course, Aric and Amber coming on board six months ago has just brought this place to where we needed it. On the one year anniversary, we had a parking lot party where we had food tents, drink tents, and then of course, we had the dog shelter from Palm Springs and three other shelters in the Coachella Valley that came and adopted dogs out. Everything we made for that day, we matched it and all the donations, a hundred percent went to those foundations. So that was a lot of fun. And now we’re on year two and we’re looking forward just to making it even better.
CM: Looking back on year one, is there anything you would do differently?
STEVE: How long do you have? (laughs). How long do you have? You know, I never really looked that way. I always look forward. You know, the mistakes that we’ve made, we’ve absolutely learned from them. I’m not sure — I think maybe a bigger team from the beginning working on the space physically, because the three of us thought we were supermen and you know, don’t get me wrong — but physically, I think I would’ve probably not had done as much. I was physically tired from working on the space. But as far as the way things moved and progressed, yes, we made some small mistakes, but my God, coming out of it after a year, I think we’ve done quite well.
CM: And how has the community embraced Boozehounds?
Steve: A hundred percent. The community’s been amazing. As we know, so many people here in Palm Springs, everyone has a dog it seems. It was a little bit of an experiment doing this because we weren’t even sure how the dogs were gonna behave all together. I mean, we’ve all been to restaurants with dogs, but you always see maybe one or two, but a collaboration of all different sizes and breeds of dogs in one area, knowing that this is their space. We weren’t quite sure. I had a good idea that they were gonna be chill and calm and they are, for the most part. The dogs kind of understand when they’re with their owners and how to behave. And also, the funny thing is, I’m a huge dog rescuer and my own personal dog’s not even allowed here because I know his disposition. He’s a rescue from Mexico and he’s, you know, his social anxiety. So it has a lot to do with the owner of the dog. Knowing if you could bring your dog to certain spaces.
CM: Did you always have a dog growing up?
Steve: I always have dogs and the inspiration of this place was my dog “Striker,” who is the logo of this place. And we have pictures of him all over the place down the hallway, that’s Striker right there. He lasted 18 years. He’s the longest dog I’ve ever had. The longest thing I’ve ever lived with. The longest relationship I ever had (laughs). He was a big dog and he lasted 18 years. And of course, you know, we named it Boozehounds, but it really was almost gonna be called “Striker’s” — but we named drinks after him here. There’s a lot of signage out on in the dog area: “Striker’s rules, Striker says.” He was definitely the inspiration of Boozehounds. Good old boy. I miss him all the time.
“They’ve done a really good job at building this place and creating what’s now gonna become a staple here in the Coachella Valley.” — Aric Ianni, executive chef
Aric Ianni: My name is Aric Ianni. I’m the executive chef here at Boozehounds in Palm Springs. I took over about six months ago and it’s been an exciting journey to be here taking the helm. I feel really proud to work with such a great company and the owners (Steve Piacenza, Bryan Rogers and Jimmy McGill). They’ve done a really good job at building this place and creating what’s now gonna become a staple here in the Coachella Valley.
“I wanna be the queen of brunch. That’s what I want.” — Amber Ferrell, sous chef
Amber Ferrell: I actually deal with morning brunch specifically. I’m new to the desert. I’m not from here. I’m from San Diego. I just moved here from Mammoth Lakes, California. I was there for six years in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I’m passionate about brunch. I was jokingly saying like, “I wanna be the queen of brunch. That’s what I want.” I think brunch is the best meal. You get everything, you get sweet, you get your savory, you can have a sandwich, you can have a burger, you can have an omelet. And I like it all.
CM: What has been the biggest change for you at Boozehounds compared to previous work experiences?
Amber: The desert is very interesting. I think the biggest difference from what I have been used to in the past is just the types of food that we can do. Being from the mountains, being in a ski town, there was a lot of heartier dishes. We did a lot of game meat, wild bore, bacon and stews and all kinds of stuff. Whereas out here, people like a lighter fair. I can make something a little lighter and people will actually enjoy it. There’s a lot more health consciousness out here as well. And though it is challenging to accommodate everyone, It’s also challenging in a good way. I think it helps budding chefs to really challenge themselves in their skill. “How can I make this a raw vegan nut-free dish and make it the best thing they’ve ever had?” So those are two of the main differences, lighter food and a little healthier. And I like it.
Steve: I think Boozehounds is…it’s open to everybody and we want to welcome everybody. We are so open with ideas from in-house to anybody that wants to bring them to us. We’re all about creativity. We’re all about making friendships and family. That’s kind of what we’re about. We wanna open it up to new ideas for everybody to enjoy and of course bring your puppies.
Boozehounds
2080 N. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA
Happy Hour: Daily 2PM-5PM
Brunch Service: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 10am – 2pm
Dinner Service: Sunday – Thursday 5pm – 9PM
Friday & Saturday 5pm – 10PM
*Boozehounds will be closed on Wednesdays for the months of June, July and August
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