The men behind Tailgater Joe’s set out to create a sports bar unlike any Everett has ever seen, and now that it’s open, they’re convinced that they’ve succeeded.
The bar on Hewitt Avenue, which opened for business June 22, is “very much geared toward the adult sports fan,” said co-owner Joel Starr, who also owns The Flying Pig Brewing Co. on Colby Avenue.
“The Pig is very family-friendly, very pub-style,” Starr said. “(Joe’s) is very focused on sports.”
Starr, who handled the bar’s interior design, worked with facilities manager Dan Campbell and financial partner Joe Johnson to transform the property into a two-level sports bar in less than six months.
The lower level features a custom-designed concrete bar with a stainless-steel chill plate where patrons can rest their drinks. Upstairs, a wall of high-definition TVs, a second bar, dartboards and a pool table provide a more casual atmosphere.
“They’ll be a lot more martinis and wine glasses downstairs and a lot more beers going down upstairs,” Starr said.
Together, the two floors will appeal to the customer who is serious about enjoying sports and having a good time, otherwise known as “Joe,” he said.
“Joe is that fictitious beer-drinking, sports-watching hero of every red-blooded man,” Starr said.
The bar contains a total of 17 TVs, seven of which are high-definition. The owners also are investing in several pay-per-view packages to ensure that customers can watch any game they want, Campbell said.
“The amount of money we’re throwing at events like this, no one else is doing,” he said. “If it is televised and it’s a sporting event, we’ll have it. I would put this in any part of Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland or Tacoma, and it would raise the bar for all of them.”
But don’t expect to see the typical signed jerseys and team logos adorning the walls of Joe’s, Campbell said.
The owners are more likely to display photos of local sporting venues that call up fans’ memories of going to games.
“Signed jerseys … everybody else does that,” Campbell said. “This is about the party around the game. It will rekindle the memory of you as a spectator.”
The other way the partners hope Joe’s will distinguish itself from other sports bars is through quality of service, Starr said.
“Everett’s been very good to us,” he said, “but we have to earn that, every beer, every time.”
Reporter Melissa Santos: msantos@heraldnet.com.
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