The newest bar at the Banks, operated by a veteran company, is opening this weekend.
The Stretch in the former Johnny Rockets space at 191 Freedom Way is hosting its grand opening on Nov. 19. The bar, operated by Four Entertainment Group (4EG), aims to be a neighborhood spot for the workers and resident at the Banks development.
“We really went for the neighborhood bar look and feel,” 4EG partner Bob Deck told me. “We’re in Over-the-Rhine, Covington, Mount Adams, the city center, so when that Johnny Rockets came available, it seemed like a good fit.”
Four Entertainment Group also operates Igby’s, the Lackmann, Lachey’s Bar, Righteous Room and Keystone Bar & Grill, among others.
The Stretch will have a state-of-the-art audio system and TVs to watch sporting events. While the bar will be open 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day, it will open early for Bengals games and European soccer matches. The bar will bring in DJs on Friday and Saturday nights.
“We want to turn it into a high-energy bar like Igby’s or Righteous Room,” Deck said. “It’s not meant to be a dance club, just meant to have some good music going from a DJ while people are hanging out.”
The Stretch’s centerpiece is a 28-tap system that will serve 12 beers on draft, eight draft cocktails and four wines on tap. The bar will also serve a menu of craft cocktails and beer in bottles in cans. The bar also includes an outdoor patio area. Come warmer weather, the patio will be covered by an awning and a misting system to keep patrons cool during the hot months.
The Stretch won’t serve food, but is meant to complement the other restaurants and businesses at the Banks.
Despite the closing of many of the restaurants that opened with Phase I of the Banks, Deck is confident in locating the Stretch there.
“From what I’ve seen at the Banks, the right concepts flourish and the wrong concepts don’t,” he said. “That’s easier to say than if you’re actually in it, but you see the places that work and their demographic, and I think we’ve always been pretty good at 4EG at look at concept would work for the whole big picture.”
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