As a man’s best friend, dogs deserve all the love you can offer. So, why give them regular treats if you can give them a tasty meal in Dogue’s exquisite dog cafe? The San Francisco based-restaurant is owned by Rahmi Massarweh and Alejandra Vasquez. They left Shark Tank without a deal, but the national exposure pushed them through their inventory and onto the radar of every major food publication. After the show, Dogue is worth $500,000 to $1 million.
Owners’ Story
Rahmi Massarweh is a classically trained chef who spent nearly two decades learning French technique under culinary artisans before meeting Alejandra Vasquez. The couple shares a deep love of animals, and in 2010 they brought home Grizzly, a 30-pound Old English Mastiff puppy who would change the trajectory of both their lives.
Grizzly was a finicky eater who refused breeder-prescribed kibble. Rahmi began making fresh, seasonal, human-grade meals at home. Grizzly thrived, and the couple kept cooking. The name ‘Dogue’ is itself a tribute, it’s the French word for Mastiff, a nod to both Rahmi’s culinary roots and Grizzly’s role as the inspiration behind the business.
Founding the Dogue Cafe
Word spread locally about how well Grizzly was eating. Friends and neighbours started asking what was in his bowl, and by 2015 Rahmi and Alejandra had formalised the side project into a fresh food service for San Francisco dog owners. For seven years they operated direct-to-customer, building a loyal local clientele.
In October 2022 they opened a 1,600-square-foot storefront at 988 Valencia Street in the Mission District, a fresh food shop during the week and the Bone Appétit Cafe on Sundays. Dogs are the only diners.
Journey to Shark Tank
Due to the gradual rise in pet ownership in the US, these types of services have caught the attention of media outlets. Dogue got coverage in publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times, CBS News, and Business Insider.
Rahmi and his wife made it through Shark Tank’s rigorous application process and having a unique business helped them stand out among applicants. Rahmi and Alejandra filmed their Shark Tank pitch on September 13, 2023. The episode aired on February 23, 2024 as part of Season 15.
What Happened on Shark Tank
The Sharks were impressed by the craftsmanship, Daymond John bravely took a bite of an elk pastry on camera. Rahmi shared the numbers: about $20,000 in monthly revenue, with roughly $11,000 of that coming from packaged raw dog meals rather than the cafe itself. Crucially, he admitted the business was breaking even.
That was the deal-killer. Lori Greiner said it would be hard to scale into anything investable. Daymond pushed them toward a direct-to-consumer model. Robert Herjavec seemed the most engaged but ultimately passed. All five Sharks went out. Dogue left without an offer.
The Shark Tank Effect
Despite the no-deal outcome, Dogue felt the Shark Tank bump immediately. Within weeks of the episode airing, their raw meals and pastries sold out and the website racked up waitlists. The exposure delivered exactly what national TV usually delivers: a short-term sales spike and a long-term rise in brand recognition.
The bigger question of whether they could finally scale shipping nationwide, which was the explicit reason they went on the show, has been slower to answer. As of writing, the website still primarily serves the San Francisco area, with most sales running through local pickup and the Sunday in-cafe experience.
What Dogue Looks Like Today
Dogue still operates from its original (and only) location at 988 Valencia Street. Per current listings, the cafe now runs a Sunday-only schedule for the Bone Appétit tasting (11:00 AM to 4:00 PM), with weekdays closed for production, a tighter operating model than they had at the time of filming. Pastries remain $15 each, doggucinos are $4.95, and the three-course Sunday tasting menu is $75.
Reviews remain strong, they average 4.7 stars on Yelp with customers praising the craftsmanship and Rahmi’s clear love of his work. The business has stayed independent, profitable enough to survive, and committed to its boutique model rather than the venture-scale growth path the Sharks wanted to see.
Will Dogue Fetch Millions?
Probably not on the trajectory it’s currently on and that may be by design. With $20K–$25K monthly revenue and break-even margins, Dogue is a labour-of-love lifestyle business, not a venture-scale operation. The Sharks were right that it’s hard to invest in. But Rahmi and Alejandra were right too: they didn’t need a Shark to keep the doors open, and they’ve kept them open, on their terms, in a category they essentially invented.
