Beef ‘O’ Brady’s closes for renovations until Friday

April 29, 2019 | 3:00 am

Updated April 28, 2019 | 11:17 pm

Beef 'O' Brady's Owensboro will be closed until Friday for renovations. | Photo courtesy of Beef 'O' Brady's

After serving the lunch crowd on Sunday afternoon, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, located at 3189 Fairview Drive, closed its doors temporarily to complete a remodeling project that began in February. The restaurant anticipates having all of the renovations complete and reopening Friday afternoon, May 3.

“Our goal is to be closed for as short a time as possible so our staff won’t be out of work,” said Beef ‘O’ Brady’s co-owner, Stacy Bratcher. “We plan to be open again Friday by 4 p.m. — fingers crossed.”

Bratcher said the renovations officially began in February with contractors coming in as early as 6 a.m. and working “little by little” to make small improvements each day before opening for lunch at 11 a.m.

She said the women and men’s bathrooms have both already been completely remodeled, only taking three days each.

While Bratcher is looking forward to the cleaner, more updated look, she said the renovation was brought about by menu changes required by the franchise that have required more kitchen space than the restaurant had available.

“When we opened in 2006, we only had a space and a half in the strip center,” Bratcher said. “In July of 2012, we added the other half and expanded our bar.”

Bratcher said, when the restaurant first opened, they originally served food in baskets with tissue paper. But now that the restaurant had transitioned to plates, they were required to install a dishwasher. The franchise also added pizza to the menu requiring the owners to purchase a pizza oven.

The restaurant has now started featuring more of what Bratcher refers to as “center of the plate” meals on the menu such as salmon, pork chops and steak. In order to accommodate the necessary ingredients for these meals, Bratcher said the walk-in freezer had to be attached to the building from the outside which “opened up the kitchen tremendously.”

“The main goal was the kitchen — but when we started, we just kept going,” Bratcher said, referring to the addition of new flooring, all new furniture and an upgraded bar.

One of the innovations Bratcher was excited about including in the bar upgrade, was the addition of the new Bottoms Up draft beer system. After doing extensive research and speaking with the Steamers restaurant owner in Bowling Green, Bratcher said they were sold on the LED lit, hands-free machinery that would allow the restaurant to utilize 99 percent or more of a keg, rather than the previous 70 percent. To her knowledge, Bratcher said, no other restaurant in Owensboro offered that technology.

While the restaurant will be able to add a few more seats, their intentions are not to make the restaurant any bigger. Bratcher said she anticipates keeping the seating arrangements relatively the same to allow for the flexibility to set up for large parties.

As for the inside paint and decor, as part of a franchise, Bratcher said there were guidelines to follow, including certain color schemes. They also plan to remove the neon lights and beer signs from the walls.

“We didn’t want it to be too different, but we wanted it to have a fresh look,” Bratcher said.

By far the most exciting new addition included in the renovation, according to Bratcher, will include the outside of the building near the Don Moore GM Center.

“We will be adding a pick-up window to make it more convenient for guests — that will be a big addition,” Bratcher said. “We did have curbside, but I think this will be even more convenient.”

Bratcher encourages patrons to stay updated on the renovation process throughout this week on the restaurant’s Facebook page in anticipation of Friday’s reopening.

April 29, 2019 | 3:00 am

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