When customers set foot inside Dunedin cafe Gary & Lola’s, they often ask which of the pair is the one behind the counter.
That is when owners Katelyn Waugh and Sammy Sinclair explain that Gary and Lola are in fact their beloved dogs.
“We constantly get asked who’s Gary and who’s Lola,” co-owner Mrs Sinclair said.
“Every day pretty much, every new customer.”
The idea to name their recently acquired George St cafe after each of their pets began as a joke over some post-work drinks.
Naming it after themselves also “doesn’t have as much of a ring to it, I don’t think”, Mrs Sinclair said.
“People like dogs more than humans,” fellow co-owner Ms Waugh said.
The pair bought the site, which was formerly occupied by Ironic, in October and rebranded it to Gary & Lola’s last month.
Ms Waugh said it had been both a dream and a goal of theirs to own their own business.
“We’ve both been in hospitality for a really long time, I think combined about 40 years, so it’s probably about time.”
Gary and Lola were “just our favourite things in the whole entire world” and deserved to have a cafe named after them.
“They’re the bosses.”
Lola turned up at work every Thursday morning before heading off to daycare, whereas Gary showed up “whenever he feels like it”, Mrs Sinclair said.
Dogs would officially be allowed to come down George St on-leash from May 5, when changes to the dog control bylaw and policy came into effect.
But people had been doing it anyway and, while they were not condoning it, the co-owners said they were happy to let customers’ dogs into the cafe.
Dogs could also get their photo taken to be displayed on the cafe’s “dog wall”.
But letting either Gary or Lola have a turn at making the coffee might not work, Mrs Sinclair said.
“Unfortunately, they don’t have hands, so it makes it a bit hard,” Ms Waugh said.
