The owner of Tim Finnegan’s Irish Restaurant and Pub will hold a grand opening weekend for his new pub, The Kettle Black Kitchen & Pub, starting Friday at its location on First and Washington streets.
Tom Montgomery said the pub opened its doors for a soft opening this January and has received great feedback, but he still has plans to add to the Kettle Black experience.
“We’re going to have a patio, flowers and nice bright lights shining on the door,” Montgomery said. “So we’re still a work in progress, but once we get that going I think we’re really going to start bringing them in.”
The grand opening weekend will have live music, drink and food specials. The pub is bringing craft brews and homemade food to the table, seating approximately 100 people with booths, high-tops and a full bar.
Montgomery wanted to bring the Kettle Black downtown to target the growing residential neighborhoods being built.
“I know that there’s a ton of apartments being built within a square mile or two from here, so there’s a lot of people from the valley that are moving into the city rather than to the outlying areas,” Montgomery said.
According to Downtown Phoenix Inc., 1,826 residential units are under construction with another 1,100 in predevelopment.
“Downtown is a very unique niche in regards to opening up down there and in most cases it has got to be corporate based,” Rick Murray, CEO of Arizona Small Business Association, said. “The barrier is if you don’t live or work downtown it’s not that easy of a commute.”
Mark Kramer, manager of the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery franchise in CityScape, said that corporate restaurants succeed downtown because people learn the area by finding places they already know.
“They want to get their base and they want to go somewhere familiar,” Kramer said. “So they are going to go to a name that they know and then start asking questions, ‘Hey what else is around here?’ Then they may hit the other spots.”
Murray said smaller places have a great chance of competing as long as they have a good foundation behind them.
“You have to believe in your idea and you need to surround yourself with people who believe in your idea that are good team players,” Murray said.
With his previous experience in the industry, Montgomery understands the need for a great team in order to make the business work.
“The hardest thing about being a bar/restaurant owner is finding and keeping good staff,” Montgomery said.
Although the staff search is still ongoing, he said the management has put a huge emphasis in the quality of the pub’s service.
Montgomery said the atmosphere doesn’t “pigeon-hole” them and will appeal to a variety of crowds. The pub can be used for business meetings, date nights or hanging out with old friends.
“I envision the crowds being very diverse, just like the menu,” he said. “Even our music will vary.”
The Kettle Black menu has variety to it as well, with items ranging from traditional fish and chips, burgers and hand-cut fries to mussels and chicken kabobs.
“We want to be known as like a food-centric pub, an elevated pub experience where the food and the service are top notch,” Montgomery said.
As for competition, Montgomery said he doesn’t mind sharing the growing need for bars and late night bites.
“I welcome it,” he said. “I think that the more the merrier because people are moving down here so I think the more places there are to go out the more foot traffic there is.”
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