Last night my clients and I took a field trip to a new sports bar that has become extremely popular since its opening last May. Public Bar has many features are similar to our plan, which is interesting since as of yesterday my clients had never heard it. Proves the whole “there are no original ideas” meme, I guess. Rooftop bars are all the rage, so why NOT combine it America’s favorite pastime?
I liked the décor. It reminded me a lot of Chipotle: raw wood, stainless steel and a deep earth tone dominating the walls, although in this case, Basketball Orange instead of Roasted Pepper. The cleanliness of the place left of the strongest impression on me, but that may be saying more about my own issues than the overall design plan.
My clients’ initial impression was that the owners’ budget had been tight. Stock stools and easily fabricated tables, along with little other than paint and reclaimed wood led me to agree, but I do feel that if that truly was the case, then the designers did a great job with what they had.
All of the walls were painted orange and trimmed with deep brown. An entire side of the first floor was wallpapered with vintage sports scenes that had been blown up to giant size. Every image was lightly blurred and of sepia tones only, so what could have been overwhelming in such a narrow space blended nicely with the orange and brown theme. A few old trophies, balls and other tchotchkes were displayed on narrow, industrial shelving on the first floor. I didn’t recognize any sports theme on the second floor. The roof was not in service since it was 37 degrees, and is was too dark to see it well. The only thing I noticed was high wood walls.
BlackBook.com calls it “a tad of over-thought” Ok, now I’m scared…43 reviews on Yelp, and only 13 mentioned the décor. Should I be worried about this?
I teased out anything that even slightly mentioned the interior and layout, expect for the nearly unanimous mention of the three flights of narrow stairs. Not our concern, we have an elevator. (Quotes not edited.)
The roof deck is very nice; everything else sucks.
Its sad, because the building has a lot of potential. The layout is great, but Public bar is just not well executed…
…only downside, they plastered too many small screen tvs on the walls. They should have gone with fewer screens but bigger. You have to squint to see em.
It was extremely hot outside, meaning all of us were sticking to the leather couches on the roof deck. We ended up rotating seats so each of us could benefit from shade time. But that’s not the fault of the bar, unless they made an effort to provide larger umbrellas that were more easy to move and provided more coverage.
But anyway…the roof was nice, but not very conducive to a large crowd. It’s pretty narrow, so there’s not much room to move around. There is basically a slim walking space to get to the bar, flanked on each side by leather seats and umbrellas. I would not enjoy it on a crowded night.
Though I liked the decor (nice and airy, with a nice roof deck)…
Anyway, cut to the rooftop: it’s actually pretty nice. Well-decorated, expansive and functional with a bar on each end…
In my opinion, the lack of decent sports bars in this city is a crime. As a sports fan, I appreciate the multitude of really nice flat screens artistically placed on the walls and those that are in the booths for private enjoyment…
The decor reminded me a lot of a loft done sports style. Exposed bricks walls with an insane amount of Tv’s all on the wall with games on. I also really think the sportsbar theme is a problem. You don’t want ads for athlete’s foot medicine on four tvs around you when you’re trying to dance and have a fun time at a bar (yes this actually happened).
The interior has a great atmosphere. There is alot of seating, each booth has a small HDTV with channel changer mounted into the wall!
Positives: lots of TVs with lots of different sports channels; each booth has its own TV with its own channel control; the booths fit 8 comfortably and the seats’ material mimics that of a basketball (which is uniquely cool); three floors; rooftop (the rooftop bar is now open); no cover; TV in the bathroom mirror so you don’t miss any of the action; did not get annoyingly crowded
The decor is modern yet comfy…
Tonight we are going to Georgetown.
