TAMPA, Fla. – A popular dog bar in Tampa will close its doors for good this weekend, with Pups Pub’s owners citing a years-long battle over changes to enforcement of state regulations.
What is Pups Pub?
The backstory:
Pups Pub opened off W. Kennedy Blvd. in 2020 after the Florida Dept. of Health approved several dog bars across the state.
In a post on social media Tuesday, the bar’s owners said the business passed all health inspections during its first two years of operation, and a second location opened in downtown Orlando in 2022.
Pictured: Pups Pub.
Battle over dog bars in Florida
Dig deeper:
The owners said things took a turn that same year when a newly-promoted FDOH official “unilaterally reversed the department’s interpretation, deciding that operating an indoor/outdoor dog bar – which had been fully approved and compliant under FDOH jurisdiction for years – was suddenly prohibited.”
Pups Pub took legal action against the state agency, which said dogs are not permitted inside a business where anything consumable is served – even ice. The bar’s owners argued the state was misinterpreting its own food regulations.
PREVIOUS: Legal battle continues for dogs in Florida bars, centered around pub with Tampa location
In 2023, a judge ruled in favor of Pups Pub, but the state appealed. Court records show that the First District Court of Appeal reversed the 2023 ruling on April 30, 2025.
The appellate ruling reads, in part: “We agree with DOH that the challenged statements applied the governing law. Therefore, they do not constitute an unadopted rule in derogation of the statutory requirement that agency rules be established through the formal rulemaking process.
What they’re saying:
In Tuesday’s post on social media, Pups Pub wrote, in part: “The FDOH’s legal strategy was to isolate a single business to set a precedent before enforcing it on the rest of the industry. More than a dozen other dog bars are expected to close in the wake of this rule.”
Courtesy: Pups Pub.
What’s next:
Pups Pub Tampa will host a farewell party this Saturday, June 7, from noon until 11 p.m.
The owners say franchisees have been working to open new locations in Brandon and Clermont, which will be open-air.
The Source: This story was written with information from a post on social media by Pups Pub, court records from the State of Florida and previous FOX 13 News reports.
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