Filling Station Fort Lauderdale - Dog Friendly Craft Beer Pub

Filling Station Fort Lauderdale – A Dog-Friendly Craft Beer Pub

The Filling Station Lauderdale was formerly located in Miami,where it was a local lunchtime favorite. In its new Broward county location, the car-themed Filling Station boasts 30-plus taps of Craft Beers specializes in Gastro-pub Burgers, saucy Chicken Wings, ‘cheapo’ tacos, and legendary tater tots.

Best of all, Filling Station Fort Lauderdale allows leashed and well-mannered dogs to dine with their humans in their large outdoor patio.

Filling Station Fort Lauderdale - Mullies Puppy Palate –pub grub for dogs - courtesy of The Filling Station and Garage

Mullies Puppy Palate, Filling Station’s pub grub for dogs

The Filling Station Fort Lauderdale even has a special dish on its menu just for your precious pooch. Mullies Puppy Palate offers hungry canines Hamburger, Hot Dog and homemade Doggie Treats. If your fortunate enough to be served by one of their resident dog ‘experts’, you can get some good training tips and advice.

I am always on the lookout for interesting dog-friendly places where I bring along my Chihuahua mix, and enjoy great food and drink. I discovered that the Filling Station ‘filled’ this order on a recent tasting visit.

To assist me in sampling as many of the beers on tap as I possible was Mitch, Filling Station Fort Lauderdale’s bar manager extraordinaire, who curated my flight of craft brews.

The beers that stood out obviously played to my sweet tooth. Sonoma’s Pulley Absinthe Cider (6.0% ABV) -a tart apple cider with a delicious hint of anise that only licorice lovers can appreciate, Hollywood Brewery Mango IPA (6.0% ABV) – a dark orange-colored India pale ale with just a trace of sweet Mango and New Belgium’s Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale (6.3% ABV) – a chocolatey tasting brown ale with salted-caramel notes and sweet vanilla finish.

Ultimately, I enjoyed most a beer cocktail that Mitch created called Lazy Sunday. Made with Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and Sprite soda, then served on the rocks in a brandy snifter, it paired well with my Corn Fritters. These lightly breaded and fried puffy balls filled with Sweet Corn were nicely balanced with the accompanying creamy Savanna dipping sauce made with Sriracha and Horseradish.

Oh, yes, there was food. The Filling Station menu is admittedly overwhelming, but Mitch helped me navigate through the pub’s fare.

There are nine different sauces to choose from for their Chicken Wings, including the extra spicy hot “Party In Your Mouth” that won the bar “Best Wings in Miami” in 2014 from Miami New Times.

My favorite sauces were the mustard and vinegar-based Carolina BBQ and the Ranchalada, which combines their house-made Ranch dressing and the award-winning “Party In Your Mouth” sauce. The wings come in orders of 8, 16 or 24, and are served with Carrot Sticks and Homemade Bleu Cheese dressing.

There’s no point in calorie-watching here! So I dove into B.J.C. Tater Tots –A plate pilled with deep-fried nuggets made from grated potatoes, and amply covered in bits of Peppered Bacon, pickled Jalapeno Peppers and creamy Cheddar Cheese Sauce. This rich topping combination easily turned a simple snack to dangerously addictive comfort food.

With another round of the Lazy Sunday, I found the courage to order the Sara’s Super Sport Burger – an All-Beef Patty, grilled to your desired temperature, that is schmeared with Peanut Butter, and topped with Peppered Bacon, Red Onion and Butter Lettuce. The blend of nutty and spicy flavors worked amazingly well with the juicy hamburger.

There might not exist a better sauce to put on your burgers or steaks than Peter Luger Sauce! Luckily Amazon will ship it straight to your mouth:

Although often considered a part of Fort Lauderdale, The Filling Station and Garage Bar is actually in nearby Oakland Park. The city of Oakland Park is bisected by the Florida East Coast Railway, which runs parallel to Dixie Highway through its Central Business District (downtown), and borders Wilton Manors.