History tells us that we owe Mr Jack Daniels a credit for the Red Dog Saloon name. When he opened his first bar in Tennessee in1892 under this very title, he created a landmark moment in the hospitality industry.

There are now, inevitably, several drinking establishments dotted across the world also called the “Red Dog Saloon”. Its name evokes imagery of a somewhat unrefined clientele drinking Jack Daniels without much of a care to the outside world.

The Red Dog Saloon in Pioneertown, California has everything we look for in a wild west bar: its long and basic interior serves as a dusty stage for characters out of the pages of a story book. What it lacks in sophistication, it more than makes up for in its final frontier desert vibe. The Red Dog is exactly what it says on the label.

It’s a commitment of time to get to this joint, which is why most of the clientele commit a further allocation of time when they arrive. This is not a place for amateurs.