Albert King always wanted to open a bar, and now he’s getting the chance to see that dream come to life.
As the owner of the Pub House, soon to open at 718 W. 9th St., King is taking his years of experience as a bartender, beer distributor and bar manager to new heights as he works to bring another new option to Owensboro’s downtown nightlife scene.
Pub House will be located where Our Place was formerly located. King has been working to revamp the site and give it a new, modernized feel by replacing the walls, flooring, bar and other aesthetics inside the building.
“The walls used to be covered in tin signs, beer and tobacco advertisements; we took all that down,” he said. “The stools were old and mismatched, so those are being replaced. We’ve put new toilet and sinks in. We’ve just really cleaned it up.”
The vibe at The Pub House will be more intimate and “a place to have a good conversation,” while still a fun place to listen to music, play pool and enjoy a few drinks. Six TVs will line the walls and a stage for smaller-sized bands will be set up in the near future.
“I guess you could say it’ll be like a really, nice, clean dive bar,” King said.
One of King’s focuses for the Pub House is playing new music, and not necessarily what you’d hear on 96.1, he said, but music that isn’t quite as mainstream.
“I still want music to be something people enjoy, but they where they think, ‘I always hear something new,’” he said.
When King first started his career in the bar industry, he was in his 20s. Back then he enjoyed the flashing lights and wild side of bars he went to and worked in, but his taste has evolved as he’s come into his mid-30s, he said.
“When I first started doing that kind of bartending, I was 24, so a lot of the kids were my peers,” he said. “Now that I’m in my mid-30s, we’re all getting older together. So it’s just another step in giving people our age something to do. Owensboro is in need of nightlife.”
King credits services like Lyft in Owensboro for the boost in downtown nightlife in Owensboro. People used to fight over cabs at closing time. Now people have options, he said, and it’s helped tremendously.
Besides the bar at The Pub House, high-top tables will be available to sit at as well. Food won’t be served, but King said food can be ordered and delivered to the establishment and food trucks may be implemented at times as well.
If anybody was cut out for the bar industry, it’s King. Coming from a long lineage of bar owners who ran successful bars in Owensboro for years, King said it’s always been a dream of his to continue that legacy.
“My grandmother and great-grandmother opened Martin’s Bar in downtown Owensboro in 1935. That was two years after prohibition. I find it fascinating that two women took that endeavor on themselves,” he said. “We actually grew up in the apartment on top of it, and I lived there until I was 18. I was 22 when Martin’s went down.”
On the other side of King’s family, King’s uncle, Charlie Mattingly, opened and owned The Yellow Rose for 20-plus years.
“As a little kid, I just always grew up around it — taking out the trash, stocking beer and cleaning up after them my whole life,” he said. “I just never got the opportunity to bartend there before it hit the ground.”
After that, King ran into Shawn Plemmons, who opened the Sand Bar in downtown Owensboro. King continued working for him, and even helped him open up Ten.O.Six, located on 4th St., where he’s been working as a manager.
The announcement of new bars and breweries opening, like Mile Wide Beer Company, the Brew Bridge and The Pub on Second is very exciting for King, who says the more choices people in Owensboro have, the better it will be for business.
“The more stuff there is to do, the more people are conscious about wanting to go out and do stuff,” King said. “If it’s only these one or two things, and you never seem to have a good time when you’re doing those one or two things, you’re going to stop going out. But if there’s more things to do, it’s going to create a good environment. It’s good for all of us.”
Customers can expect a March 6 grand opening for The Pub House. The bar will open at 2 p.m. during the week and 12 p.m. on Saturdays.
