Lexington bar adding upstairs bourbon concept for UK alumni. ‘Always more college kids’
One of Lexington’s busiest college bars is about to get a big brother or big sister.
Erick Ostrander, owner of The Paddock Bar and Patio at 319 S. Limestone, is adding a second concept upstairs called The Alibi Social Club.
If The Paddock, which opened in 2004, is for University of Kentucky students (of legal drinking age, of course), then The Alibi “is the alumni bar,” Ostrander said.
A little bit more mature, he said, for people who don’t want to be around all the college kids but aren’t quite ready for his Paddock Bourbon Club private lounge.
“It will be bourbon-forward of course, because we’re in Kentucky, with cocktails, glassware, leather couches, a bit more elevated,” with exposed brick and fireplaces, he said.
He hopes to have the new concept open before the end of football season, possibly by Halloween.
The 5,500-square-foot bar is going into an existing second-floor space that had been apartments in a 100-plus-year-old building.
It will have space for about 190 patrons with a bar, a lounge area and a stage for music. Eventually, Ostrander said, he’d love to add a rooftop bar onto the building as well.
The project will increase the foot traffic on South Limestone, already busy on UK game days. Ostrander said last year, on the day UK played Alabama in football, the bar served about 5,500 people.
“The Paddock is already one of the busiest bars on Limestone,” he said. “Us and Tin Roof are probably the two staples on the ‘college kids’ scene. There’s always more college kids, it’s a blessing.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
