Karaoke kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday at Mad Dogs British Pub on the San Antonio River Walk, the opening act for a party that will run until 2 a.m. and mark three decades of pints poured beneath the Hyatt Regency. The pub is calling the all-night affair the British Invasion, and it doubles as a 30th-anniversary celebration for a River Walk fixture since 1996.
According to a news release cited by MySA, the British Invasion party is scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, with karaoke starting an hour earlier at 5 p.m. The Chris Boss Band is booked to provide live music, and the pub says it will roll out drink specials, giveaways and what the release describes as other celebratory treats. A separate VIP RSVP page for the event lists a 6 p.m. start time at the Hyatt Regency on the River Walk, according to Mad Dogs British Pub's own site, which tells guests, “We'll see you Friday, November 6 from 6PM at Mad Dogs.”
Mad Dogs sits at 123 Losoya St., tucked beneath the Hyatt Regency on the river level, and its history stretches back further than its Texas address. The brand originated in Hong Kong in 1984, per the seed report, expanding to four locations there before the first American outpost opened beneath the Hyatt Regency on the San Antonio River Walk. The pub's own account, as relayed by MySA, puts the River Walk opening in 1996.
A Pub With Famous Fingerprints
Over the decades, the pub has built a guest list that sounds more like a red carpet than a bar tab. Mad Dogs has hosted Charles Barkley, Eva Longoria and Tommy Lee Jones, according to the seed report. CEO and owner Terry Corless summed up the pub's identity in the release, saying Mad Dogs is British by birth, Texan by choice, and proud to call the San Antonio river banks home.
The Hong Kong roots run deep, too. The brand was born in 1984 as the brainchild of two Scots, Laura McAllister and Andy Neilson, chron.com reported at the time. A later account, published July 22, 1992, in heraldscotland.com placed Mad Dogs bar-diners at 8 and 33 Wyndham Street in Central Hong Kong, as well as at 33 Nathan Road in Kowloon.
A Courtroom Fight
More recently, the Mad Dogs name became the subject of a federal lawsuit. MD Manageco Inc., identified as the River Walk pub's operator, sued Mad Dogs LLC and its owner for alleged trademark infringement in federal court in San Antonio in March, according to the same chron.com report's companion coverage. MD Manageco went on to obtain a temporary restraining order barring the defendants from using the Mad Dogs name or any confusingly similar name.
By the end of April, the Texas restaurant chain at the center of the dispute agreed to phase out its use of Mad Dogs completely, after a federal judge indicated that the name Mad Burgers & Dogs remained too similar to the River Walk pub's branding. Even so, the pub was still seeking damages at that point, after earlier settlement discussions broke down, according to the report.
None of that legal back-and-forth is expected to slow down Friday's festivities. For a River Walk institution that has weathered a trademark fight, the British Invasion is simply a chance to mark 30 years of pints, karaoke and celebrity visits.
