The Bardog Tavern Sweet 16 Alley Party was held September 8th in Center Lane Alley and inside Bardog Tavern at 73 Monroe Avenue.
The bar, owned by Aldo Dean, opened in 2008, but the first alley party was held in 2009. It grew into the Monroe Avenue Fest, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraiser that included the Breakaway Bardog 5K, a dunk tank, and Grandma’s Heavenly Meatball Eating Contest. Monroe Avenue between Main Street and Front Street was blocked off.
Melissa Griffin and
Eric Bourgeois
Aldo Dean
Alexis Saunders and
Jalisha Toy
“That was all pre-pandemic stuff,” says the bar’s marketing and events director Eric Bourgeois. “That was a huge thing to put on.”
Earl Hines and Stacey Bowens
This was more intimate. It featured Rowdy and the Strays, and DJ Michael Blackmer. People ate hamburger sliders grilled outdoors, played corn hole, and participated in raffles. “This was back to the basics: ‘Hey, thanks for being friends, neighbors, pals,’” Bourgeois says. It was “a celebration of all the friendships we made and maintained.”
Colbey Lamberth and Morgan Heimbach
Joe Paschka and Aly Demzik
Sitting at the bar, Colbey Lamberth says, “Aldo is a maverick at bars and restaurants that fit the Memphis scene. There’s something about Bardog. I love this place.”
