Deep-fried cookie dough, beer and burgers: New restaurant opens in Distillery District
A new restaurant has opened in the Distillery District and it leans into the “fair” fare.
Rickhouse Pub, at 1170 Manchester St., which opened on Monday, is pretty much leaving the healthy options to others.
And that’s by design, said owner Shawn Courtney.
“What goes good with beer? Fried foods,” he said. They also have sandwiches and lots of burgers. But no veggie burger.
“All-meat, unhealthy, fatty burger,” Courtney said with a laugh. “And our sandwiches are pretty good too.”
Kismet at The Burl Arcade across the street has the vegetarian/vegan/healthy lane, he said, “So we stayed away from that.”
The pub, which also has a full bar and will have more than 100 different canned beers, has a menu heavy on fried foods in a fun way, including the desserts: They have fried cookie dough balls, deep-fried Oreos and funnel cake.
You could get a salad ... or a deep-fried chili dog. No judging.
Owners Shawn and Mary Courtney didn’t mean to open a restaurant at all. But after they opened Battle Axes next door two and a half years ago, patrons kept asking where they could get a bite to eat.
At that time, the main options were Goodfellas Pizzeria, Middle Fork Kitchen Bar and Crank & Boom ice cream. There wasn’t much in the sandwiches and burgers lane on the campus of the former James E. Pepper Distillery.
“People were constantly coming in asking if anything other than pizza, trying to get something to eat that was good and quick and simple,” Shawn Courtney said. “The Distillery District was always packed, but there really wasn’t much else to eat.”
They watched other restaurants ponder the location but finally decided to open one themselves. They signed a lease at the beginning of the year, before COVID-19 hit.
What might have seemed like a risky idea now might be their saving grace.
“We’re the only business in the district with a walk-up bar, and we’ve got 40 seats on the patio,” Courtney said. They also offer takeout orders.
Since Battle Axes and Rickhouse Pub are connected, Courtney said, they can send customers back and forth, which he hopes will begin happening more regularly.
“Battle Axes is struggling since COVID hit,” he said. “There’s not much we can do about it. We can’t convince people to come and hang out.”
He’s installed air filtration systems in both businesses for extra protection from the coronavirus.
“It’s gradually picking back up but it’s nothing like it was, because we lost all of our team-building business, our daytime business,” he said.
Rickhouse Pub
Where: 1170 Manchester St., No. 130
Hours: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Menu: Pub food, including fried appetizers and munchies, burgers, sandwiches and desserts
Call: 859-368-8558
Online: rickhousepub.com
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 10:52 AM.
