LAFAYETTE, Ind. — What began as hobby that Blake Houy found he could bond over with his son out in their garage has evolved into a family business, with the opening of DawgsEye, a steel-tip darts lounge.
The journey to opening the lounge, located at 125 N. Creasy Lane, began with an electric dart board he purchased in 2021, but Blake said as his son began dipping his toes into the sport, he realized he had real knack for throwing darts, leading him to purchase a higher-quality steel-tip dart board for their garage. Dartboard
At the time Blake and his son began to pick up the shared hobby, he said his family was also operating a hot dog cart locally around the Greater Lafayette area called Walking Dawgs, which helped to inspire the name for the darts lounge.
"That was the dream, you know, to get a place to sell our hot dogs," Blake explained. "And then darts came into my life, and I was like, if I could combine these two things, then that would be the real dream."
With eight steel-tip dart boards and up to four players per board, each board lane can be rented for an hour at a time.
While DawgsEye is currently just a steel-tip darts lounge, Blake said they anticipate being able to sell their all-beef hot dogs in the space by early summer. In the meantime, Blake and his wife, Ashlyn, encourage patrons to bring in food from outside vendors, offering a Creasy Lane Pizza King menu in store for anyone interested in carry-out from the neighboring business.
Blake said since the lounge opened, he has had to emphasize to patrons that it isn't a bar, meaning no alcohol will be served, as he aims to keep DawgsEye a family-friendly environment.
"This has been a really opportunity to bond with my son, which is why I wanted to do a family-style thing," Blake said. "Because I realized that me and my son were having, like, deep conversations over these casual games of darts."
While throwing steel-tip darts is a newer hobby for Blake, he said he can recall the fun he had playing darts at the former Moose Lodge on Union Street in Lafayette, where his mom frequented. As he got older, hanging out in bars wasn't something he was interested in, so the hobby never flourished.
But offering families a chance to play darts in the Greater Lafayette area is something Blake and Ashlyn are both passionate about, seeing their 12-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter flourish and enjoy helping operate their family's business.
As word of their business continues to spread around the Greater Lafayette area, Blake said his family looks forward to seeing the business grow, hoping to increase opportunities their space could offer.
"We are always looking for little ways as a family to make this place even better," he said. "Eventually I want to organize leagues for both adults and kids, or whoever is interested. I think this is definitely something different for kids in town to do, and we hope they find it just as fun."
Modern Dartboard Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached by email at jellison@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ellison_writes.