The Devil is in The Details

After a near disaster (a story we MIGHT share over a cold one sometime)  the new bar top is complete (left) and the outdoor patio railings are installed.  Thursday we passed our final Health Department inspection...all HUGE milestones.  Now we face a long laundry list of things we have to get done before the second bar is fully operational. 

The devil truly IS in the details!  


Still, we're getting closer every single day! We will be closed July 1,2,3 & 4 to install the new storefront and then open the downstairs bar shortly thereafter.  Our Grand Opening is targeted for early August... stop by for a beer and flatbread and check out our progress!

OH SHIT don't tell OSHA!

Safe construction best practices:

You can't make these types of cuts using the RIGHT tool." 

Hindsight is 20-20 

I SEE A BAR, WHAR? OVER THAR!

Well kids things are really coming along!  All of the plumbing is in place AND approved and the bar has been framed out.  All that's left for that portion of the project is the finishing decor touches which should be accomplished by the end of the week.  Then we just need to order bar refrigeration and stools, get them in place and then final inspections next week!  Our goal is to complete the entire project (new bar, new storefront and outdoor patio) by mid July.  And so far (keep your fingers crossed) we are right on target!


We will be closed just a couple of Tuesdays, May 29, June 5 and July 3 & 4 (holiday) but other than that we are OPEN DURING RENOVATIONS!  Come on by and check out our progress!

Our friend Eric who came all the way from Sacramento to help!  What a prince!

Back to the Grind

The floor  plumbing for the new bar is in and approved, so now it's back to the grind.  Chris is once again grinding away this time making the metal frame for the bar.  The question is, which is worse, metal spray in the face or in the crouch?  Look at the photos and you be the judge.

Don't anyone call OSHA!

This time at least we forced him to put on glasses, but he still didn't wear gloves, or sleeves for that matter.  

Either way, he'd better be careful, remember what happened last time he was grinding metal? (see August 26, 2011 blogpost - photo below)

Hole-y Crap!

Projects are ALWAYS ten times harder than they appear, especially when you're dealing with a 100 year old building.  Who would think that ALL the cinder block in this building would be filled solid with concrete, not hollow as any reasonable person would expect cinder block to be (that must be the way they did things back in the day... guess things really aren't made the way they used to be). So this week Chris and John tied their bandanas and went to work drilling the holes to run the plumbing.  Using a 50-pound core driller meant to be used vertically into the ground, they shouldered the damn thing and drilled through 8 inches of solid concrete managing somehow to operate the "Rambo" machine gun-like tool from the shoulder.   They finally managed to blast through the concrete creating the holes you see in this pic. Now we're ready to lay the pipes for plumbing.  We're hoping to have all the pipes laid next week for mid-term plumbing inspection shortly thereafter.  Once the plumbing goes in we can start concentrating on building the bar.  Once the bar is done we can focus on the interior decor and finally the new store front and outdoor patio. Once we are done, we will all drink...heavily. It all takes more time than you expect (of course) but we're still hoping for mid to late June completion. Oh, and the smiley face on the wall... that was Chris and John's way to show how happy they were to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. :-)=

To Our Health

Well, we submitted our plans to the Health Department this week and now we wait.   Hopefully no more than 7-10 days, then we’re off to get city approval and the final stage of the build out begins!  Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t run into too many snags.  We’re tying into all new plumbing that we put in a few months ago so that shouldn't’ be too complicated or raise any red flags, still when you’re dealing with local government bureaucracy, you never know!  We’re really getting excited to see the project take shape.  The feedback we’ve gotten from everyone has been super positive.  If all goes according to plan, in about 8 weeks you’ll be able to come by and enjoy a beer or glass of wine on our new outdoor patio, play a game on our new bar shuffleboard or just hang out in our newly remodeled digs. It’s been the support of all of you that has gotten us this far so we know what a difference it makes to have everyone pulling for us.  So keep your fingers crossed and say a toast To Our Health!  

Final Phase (Here We Go Again!)

In a couple of weeks we’ll be under construction again with the FINAL PHASE of our build-out.  We’ve been open 7 months now so it’s time to finish what we started.  This phase involves adding another bar in the Lower Lounge, opening up the storefront and adding two outdoor patios.   We’ll also be extending the Back Room by building a wall at the top of the stairs and opening up the wall behind the existing bar so you’ll be able to watch live music and other entertainment from the bar. Luckily this construction does not require near as much drawing and permitting as the original build-out so we should be done by early to mid-June.  And since WE'LL BE OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION, the whole process shouldn’t be too disruptive.  When it’s done we’ll have a great neighborhood bar space downstairs (complete with bar shuffleboard) and an enhanced Back Room entertainment/event space.  Here are a couple of drawings of what it will look like.  Stop in and let us know what you think!