A Las Vegas restaurant known for making over-the-top hot dogs and loaded fries has earned the internet’s ire after hosting an event in celebration of the children’s television character Bluey — and woefully underdelivering on the expectations of toddlers and their parents. Dirt Dog posted about a “Bluey Day” on its Facebook page on May 10. The free event advertised face-painting, giveaways, and — most notably for the show’s demographic — a meet-and-greet with the character. And instead of meeting the titular Blue Heeler puppy, fans were greeted by some guy wearing a onesie.
Basically, the event kind of got out of hand (paw?) for Dirt Dog, located at 8390 S. Rainbow Boulevard in southwest Las Vegas. First, about 3,000 people RSVP’d on the event page. On the day of the event, lines began to form outside the building before its doors had even opened. Families who ventured out with the expectation to meet the character Bluey were instead met with a Dirt Dog employee clad in a pajama onesie.
Visitors also complained that the face-painting was unimpressive, that most of the television screens showed sports instead of the cartoon, and that there were too many people to enjoy the space comfortably. Following a criticism blitz on its social platform accounts, the restaurant took to Facebook to post an apology statement to attendees. “We are truly sorry this event wasn’t the expected experience,” Dirt Dog’s statement reads. “We were overwhelmed with the turn out to this event,” it added. Some commenters rallied behind Dirt Dog, offering reminders to those posting disappointed or vitriolic messages that the event was free.
At least for now, Dirt Dog is going back to what it does best — wrapping a beef frank in bacon, nestling it within a toasted bun, and piling the whole thing high with fries, chorizo, and elote.