“It is a self-pouring place for beer, wine and seltzers,” Rafael Salem said. “There’s going to be no bar whatsoever.”
Instead, there will be a wall of 40-44 taps serving domestic craft beers and the other beverages. At similar places, taps look a lot like the small screens on gasoline pumps, giving information about the beers and showing how many ounces have been poured.
“Basically, you go up, swipe a card, and you dispense your own alcohol,” he said. The automated taps tell customers how much they’ve spent, by the ounce.
Here are advantages, he said: “You don’t have to wait on a drink, you don’t have to tip for a drink. It’s user-friendly, and you get a chance to sample various types and styles of tapped beers and wines.”
“It also alleviates the awkwardness of tipping.”
There will be a small kitchen serving appetizers and other foods, with gourmet hot dogs expected to be a main staple. This will be the Salems’ first bar. They own AA Plumbing in Fairfield and other businesses. They now live in Liberty Township, but the former Toni Hubbard graduated with Hamilton High’s Class of ‘99 and he graduated from Fairfield High School that same year.
Pour House will occupy a bit more than 2,000 square feet and have a capacity of 90 people, and also will have a walk-up window people can order through. The beers to be served are not yet determined.
It’s the latest entertainment venue announced in Hamilton, following such newcomers as Pinball Garage in the area between downtown and German Village; the Fretboard microbrewery on Main Street; Billy Yanks, which opened earlier this month; and HUB on Main, to open next weekend.
“Spooky Nook (the indoor sports complex at the former Champion Paper mill) is not what drew us to open this,” Salem said. Instead, discussions with existing businesses in the immediate area were the reason. Also, in the past 3-5 years, Hamilton has “come a long way aesthetically,” he said.
He’s also been impressed that despite Hamilton’s “rough and tough reputation,” people are excited about the groups of new business openings.
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