Jackson Free Press

Upon hearing the name The Bulldog, you may picture a loud sports bar with team signage everywhere. Maybe you even picture a bar dedicated to Mississippi State University.

But The Bulldog may surprise you. While it is, essentially, a sports bar, the outside of the establishment hardly gives that away. It looks like an English pub, with a large wooden and gold-plated sign proclaiming the name.

Walking into the dining area, you get the feeling that it's not like most other sports bars around here. The tall tables, chairs, bar and floor are all made of stained, slightly weathered-looking wood, and dark wood frames the brown ceiling tiles with braided circular designs.

Owners Alec Wilder and brothers Eddie and Herbie Dyer got the inspiration for the Jackson location of The Bulldog (there's one in Baton Rouge and two in New Orleans) from a bar of the same name in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. They opened the first New Orleans location in 1994 when they saw a need for a true beer tavern. After the success of The Bulldog in New Orleans, and they decided to open a Jackson location in 2007.

Valerie Alexander became general manager in 2012.

"I guess (I got the position) through the grapevine," Alexander says. "Capital City (Beverages), our local Miller house distributor, knew that I was in the market, and knew that (Eddie and Alec) were in the market."

Alexander, a food-industry veteran, took the job a few months before Mississippi passed the craft-beer bill in July 2012. Before that, Alexander says, The Bulldog served mainly domestic and macro-brewed beers, but after the law passed, it shifted much of its focus to craft beers. The restaurant keeps 62 beers on draft, about 30 of which change out seasonally, and it also has more than 90 bottled beers. Each server and bartender goes through The Bulldog's beer-training program, which starts with a Beer 101 class to show employees how its made and the different specifications and details. The distributors also hold classes.

The Bulldog is also a great place to watch sports, with 12 TVs and two giant projectors. Alexander says that on the Saturday that Ole Miss played Auburn and Mississippi State played Arkansas, the bar filled its capacity of 300 about one-and-a-half times.

"The thing with game days is that when people come in, they're not leaving until the game is over, so you don't get a lot of turnover or rotation," Alexander says. "College (football) is definitely a hit this year with Mississippi being in the running."

During this year's Egg Bowl, she anticipates that it will be an even crazier Saturday.

On normal days, The Bulldog caters to about 150 to 200 people with its numerous taps lined up behind the bar, its numerous TVs and the food, which, in general, is pub food with a southern twist. Alexander says the most popular dish is the Tex Mex Eggrolls, which prep cook Hurricane has prepared for more than nine years. The dish contains chicken, spices, cheese and a corn-and-pepper mix, and it's served with a sauce made from raspberry melba and roasted peppers, making the dish both spicy and sweet.

"It's her special care and tenderness wrapped in a little egg-roll shell," Alexander says.

Another aspect that sets The Bulldog apart from most Jackson establishments is its recent addition of an arcade room.

"That was the party-room space, but that was such a vast space. ... Four days a week it would be empty so it was just kind of a waste of space," Alexander says. "Our regional manager Ryan Hollard suggested putting in a shuffleboard or something like that. (The owners) were like, 'Well that would be hard to keep up with. ... (Ryan) came back a week later and he was like, 'How about '80s arcade games, and I looked at him with this glimmer in my eye and was like, 'Yes, that sounds wonderful.'"

The "Barkade" (a play on the restaurant's canine name) features claw and pinball machines, a basketball arcade game and video games such as Mortal Kombat.

The Bulldog also has weekly specials, such as Pint Night on Wednesdays, where patrons get to keep their pint glasses, and Free Rockbot Friday, where customers can play music on a jukebox through an app for free.

Other than Rockbot, The Bulldog doesn't do karaoke or have live music.

"That's one of the things that sets us apart from most places," Alexander says. "When you go to a lot of these restaurants or bars, you lose that ability to speak with your friends because of the live music. ... (The Bulldog) is like Ye Olde Pub meeting place."

The bar also has a private room for parties, and on Nov. 15, will host a meet-and-greet with former Mississippi State player Tony James. The event starts at 1 p.m. and continues with the game around 2:30 p.m.

The Bulldog (6111 Ridgewood Road, 601-978-3502) is open 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m Saturday; and 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday. For more information, visit bulldog-jackson.draftfreak.com.