Owner Ron Esser, the ” Big Dog”, got his start in the music business managing the Graffiti Showcase Lounge in Pittsburgh for five years during the 1980s. Esser opened Moondog’s in 1990 next door to his family’s Starlite Lounge restaurant It is located at 378 Freeport Road on the main drag of the tiny 1,400 person mill town of Blawnox. Three miles North of Pittsburgh on the banks of the Allegheny River Blawnox was named after the town’s one time employer the Blaw-Knox Steel Company. Ron does everything at Moondog’s from booking the bands, cooking the food, stocking the beer coolers, bar tending, sound mixing, and sometimes singing. Esser also appeared on the Food Channel show “Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives” cooking perogies at the Starlight Lounge.

The giant dog bone sign above the sidewalk calls attention to Moondog’s. Inside, there is a large oval shaped bar on the left, tables on the right, and a deep floor level stage in the back. The room holds about 150 people. The right side stage wall has a mural of musicians painted as dog caricatures including Koko Taylor, Jimmy Thackery, Joe Grushecky, Norman Nardini, Phil Harris, Ron the Moondog himself and his cat Puddin’. It was created by former bartender Leah Silverman.

The first national blues act that Ron booked in 1990 were the Nighthawks.