Alex Hamilton knew he wanted to own his own business, but couldn’t figure out what he wanted it to be. When O’Bryan’s Bar & Grill went up for sale in March he jumped at the opportunity, and now Hamilton and his wife are officially the new owners.
Hamilton said there was a little luck involved. He decided to go to O’Bryan’s one night with a friend after finding out the bar added craft beer.
“I think it was like two days later it went up for sale,” he said. “I thought, man that’d be really cool. I grew up five miles down the road, so I know this area and I know everybody around here.”
Hamilton said his wife Ann-Michael shut the idea down at first.
“I mentioned it to her, and it was funny because she was like, no, just straight up no,” Hamilton said. “I was like well let’s, let’s just talk to Eric (Ashworth), the former owner, and get a feel of what all goes on.”
However, Ashworth said there was already an interested buyer and it was supposed to go under contract the next morning. Hamilton thought it wasn’t meant to be, then luck came around again when Ashworth said the deal didn’t work out.
“So we met up and after talking to him my wife was on board after that,” he said. “Now here we are. Everything fell into place, we literally had no hiccups, no problems with anything.”
Hamilton said they are keeping the same staff and “pretty much everything is staying the same.”
However, he is looking to bring a fun atmosphere back, such getting bands, karaoke, trivia, and more going again.
“We just want to make it fun,” he said. “We’re just gonna have a good time out here.”
Hamilton said one change they are considering is closing completely on Mondays.
As young owners of the restaurant — Alex is 31 and Ann-Michael is 30 — are grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s scary. I’m nervous, but I guess that’s a good thing. It’s scary but it’s exciting. I’m ready for it.”
O’Bryan’s is located at 7006 KY 815 across from Whittaker Country.
