Doggie’s Drops ‘Rathskeller’ from Bar’s Name

The basement bar at 108 S. Pugh St. is no longer using ‘Rathskeller’ as part of its name.

Doggie’s Rathskeller and Garden is now going by Doggie’s Pub. Whether the name change remains permanent is unclear, but it comes after the space’s former tenant, All-American Rathskeller proprietor Duke Gastiger, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in July against Doggie’s owners Tom and Kelley Trosko.

‘Both parties are in the final stages of negotiating an agreement, and we expect there to be a resolution soon,’ the Troskos said in an email.

The bar has had the Rathskeller name since 1933, when it opened days after the end of prohibition as the Rathskeller and Garden. The bar’s current name is a nod to C.C. ‘Doggie’ Alexander, who purchased it in 1934 and renamed it the All-American Rathskeller.

Duke and Monica Gastiger operated the Rathskeller from 1985 until it closed in January after the building’s owners, the Herlocher family, informed them their lease would not be renewed, setting off a public dispute over whether the Gastigers were offered a new lease at all and if an offer had been made to purchase the Rathskeller business.

After the bar reopened in July as Doggie’s Rathskeller and Garden, Gastiger filed the lawsuit, claiming that keeping the Rathskeller name along with much the same look and feel was trading on the name and history of his business.

It was the second legal action involving the bar. After the Rathskeller closed, the Gastigers removed the custom-made booths that dated back to the 1950s. The Herlochers took them to court and the Gastigers were ultimately ordered to return the booths after a judge ruled they were improvements to the property, not personal belongings.