Just off the phone with Nick Badovinus who tells me he is unlocking the doors in about an hour and a half for a private showing of his newest creation, Tried and True. “It’s a cool little bar with a heavy American spirit menu,” Badovinus says. Huh? I’ll translate.
Bourbon and whiskey are the stars at the bar. No fancy craft cocktails; not a mixologist on site. “It’s a heavy American whiskey focus and I’m doing lots of charcuterie with aged hams imported from Meacham Country (Sturgis, KY) and Benton’s Smoky Mountain (Tennessee),” Badovinus says. “Call it an all-American ham program.”
The bar will offer four beers: Peticolas, Deep Ellum, Lakewood Brewing Co., and Boulevard are on the opening rotation.
The menu will feature burgers, sandwiches, bar steaks, a taco program, and little apps such as brisket nachos and fried zucchini. In a few weeks he’ll add a red-eye menu which will basically be breakfast for dinner served until closing. The dude in the kitchen is Johnny “Lady Killer’ Miller who has been with Badovinus for a few years and was instrumental in getting the Neighborhood Services open at Preston Royal.
The interior is “dark and lived in” like a juke joint with a pool table. Two café racer motorcycles hang on the walls. “They are an addiction I have to shake,” Badovinus says. “I’ve got my sons first two years of college on the walls here.”
Doors open officially at 6PM tomorrow (Friday, September 14). Located in the space formerly known as Neighborhood Services Tavern. 2405 Henderson Ave. 214-827-2405.
