VIDEO: Pour House opens at The Marcum in downtown Hamilton

Pour House owners on location of their new bar: ‘it was Hamilton or nothing’

Credit: Journal News

The Pour House, a 42-tap self-pour digital taproom, celebrated its official opening Friday afternoon.

The bar and restaurant was the final tenant at The Marcum, a building that features restaurants, bars and apartments adjacent to the RiversEdge Amphitheater and across from the Courtyard by Mariott.

Co-owner Toni Salem said she’s “super excited” to have its grand opening a week before the RiversEdge concert season.

“I told my husband, next weekend was D-Day, so we are a week ahead of schedule, and I am happy about that because we definitely want to be ready by the time the concerts started,” she said.

Salem and her husband Rafael Salem will celebrate the opening of the Pour House, which had a soft opening for the past several days, had a ribbon-cutting Friday afternoon, and then it was “pour time.”

The Salems signed the lease at The Marcum in November, and Toni said for her and Rafael, “it was Hamilton or nothing.”

“We didn’t want to go too far, we didn’t want to go downtown,” Salem said. “We just believe in the whole Spooky Nook (project) and just the whole revival of this area, and we wanted somehow to get involved.”

Pour House self-pour tap room opened Friday, May 13, 2022 in The Marcum building in downtown Hamilton. Pour House features 42 taps with a mixture of craft, import and domestic beers, along with a menu of pizza and appetizers. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

icon to expand image

Credit: Nick Graham

The 42 taps will serve domestic, craft, and import beers, as well as seltzers and wine. They have a kitchen that will serve four types of pizzas, but will also offer appetizers, like a Bavarian pretzel with a beer cheese dip, potato skins, and crackling olives.

Now that this location is open, they’re ready to consider a second location somewhere in Butler County, ideally in a community with a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, district.

The idea of a self-pour digital taproom isn’t new, as the Salems and their friends were in Tampa Bay, Fla. last spring and experienced a self-serve taproom. She and her husband knew this was the idea for their next business. Rafael, a plumber, owns AA Plumbing with Toni in Fairfield.

After experiencing it, “light bulbs just went off in our heads.”

Pour House self-pour tap room opened Friday, May 13, 2022 in The Marcum building in downtown Hamilton. Pour House features 42 taps with a mixture of craft, import and domestic beers, along with a menu of pizza and appetizers. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

icon to expand image

Credit: Nick Graham

With Rafael being a plumber and Toni performing access control work in the security field, the two meshed their professional knowledge and the idea of the Pour House became reality once they found the right spot.

The way it works is a customer purchases a Pour House card, picks up a fresh glass, and places their card into the reader. Then the customer can pour as little or as much as they want, and the card will be charged accordingly.

The first concert for the 2022 RiversEdge season is a two-day ticketed event on May 20 and 21. David Shaw’s Big River Get Down will headline The Revivalists, Judith Hill, The Record Company, Raelyn Nelson Band, and others.

About the Author