Beloved Upstate bar closes after liquor liability insurance costs surge
- SCCLR Newsletter
- Dec 27, 2025
- 2 min read
By: Leah Phillips
The Dapper Dog in Mauldin, S.C., has become a home away from home for its customers, which includes both humans and their four-legged friends.
MAULDIN, S.C. —
The Dapper Dog in Mauldin, South Carolina, has become a home away from home for its customers, which includes both humans and their four-legged friends.
However, the bar will officially close its doors for good on Dec. 27, as the rising costs of liquor liability insurance policies have put unsustainable strain on the business.
Taylor Driggers has spent the majority of the last two years inside the bark-and-brew bar, working as manager, and forming lifelong connections along the way.
“Over the last two years of me working here, I’ve made so many close friends, you know, people who came to see me when I was on maternity leave, and they know my children," Driggers said. "It's been just such a special place in our heart."
The Dapper Dog's clientele seemed to be more like family than customers, like Greg Marshall, who would consider himself to be a "longtime regular."
“I think it’s very important to have spaces outside of the home and the workplace where we can relax," Marshall said. "We can be social, and not just with other people, but with our dogs, and our dogs want to be social, too."
Combining a multitude of drinks and dogs, the bar brought in crowds who bonded over their pets, but stuck around for the connections they formed.
"We realize we have a lot of other shared interests, and that’s really helped, and just kind of built that sense of community and that’s why we keep coming back," Marshall said.
