- The once quiet pub is ‘now at capacity’ thanks to Taylor Swift’s mention on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department
- The establishment is now selling Swift-inspired food and drink, as well as merchandise
- Staff are also hunting through CCTV footage for glimpses of her and one of her past lovers
It was a once sleepy pub in South London.
But now The Black Dog has a new claim to fame – after being name checked in one of Taylor Swift’s new songs.
In her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department – which was released Friday, April 19th – Swift, 34, has directly named one of the 31 recordings after the establishment, which sits in Vauxhall.
So it’s only right that those Swifties local to the bar pay it a visit.
Selling pints of beer for $7, and Sunday roast dinners for $37, the restaurant’s marketing director, Amy Crowley, has since revealed that they are now at “maximum capacity”.
Admitting that the whole debacle has “been surreal”, Crowley told People, “We’re quite lucky because we’re a well-established and well-loved local pub already, but that’s the key word, we’re a local pub, so to get this worldwide attention has been crazy.
“We’ve had to turn people away as we’re at max capacity, so that shows the levels that we’re talking about. What’s been great though is that the fans have been amazing. We’ve had them shifting up to share tables with strangers to let people get in the door which is really cool.”
With the biggest interest coming from fans across “the States, Spain, Germany and Australia”, the pub couldn’t resist jumping on the hype – and you can now purchase Swift-themed food and drink, and even merchandise.
“We’ve got our Swift Half which is our Black Dog lager and then we’ve got the Swift Burger which is a classic burger with our special house sauce with fries and chili sauce,” Crowley said. “They’ve been very popular.
“We’re creating T-shirts and people are already buying our pint glasses. The number of people signed up to our mailing list for the merchandise is already in the thousands, so we absolutely anticipate things will sell out as soon as they’re ready.”
Since the song’s release a week ago, fans have speculated that the track is either about Swift’s six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn; or the brief fling she had with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy in the weeks following their split in early 2023.
And despite potentially having insider info, Crowley says staff and none the wiser.
“We have been furiously looking back at CCTV, but we couldn’t possibly comment and I think that is part of the allure of Taylor isn’t it, she’s got to keep her fans in suspense, so we will go along with that,” she said.
