BIDDEFORD — Exposed brick, a pool table, electric blue lights, five flat-screen televisions and dozens of liquor brands to choose from: These are some of the features that define Edge Bar, which recently moved into the space formerly occupied by Fatboys Saloon at 61 Main St.
The bar, which owner Cindy Rowe described Monday afternoon as “a craft bar,” will hold a grand opening on Friday.
Edge Bar has already held a soft opening, which started last Thursday and extended through Sunday, and Rowe, who owns the business with her partner Bill Rowe, said she was very pleased with how many customers the bar has already seen.
“There were moments with two bartenders on that we couldn’t breathe, it was so busy,” she said with a smile. “It’s crazy ”“ crazy good.”
Rowe said she was also pleased with how diverse the crowd has been, both in age and in other aspects.
“I have seen people in their late 20s all the way up to people who’ve retired and moved back to Maine,” she said, adding that customers have in the last four days played everything from country music to current pop hits from the bar’s jukebox. “It’s a really fun, eclectic group.”
Originally, the bar was going to be open daily from noon to 1 a.m., said Rowe, but because one bartender noticed during the soft opening that after midnight, some customers would file into the bar “already pretty inebriated,” those hours might be reconfigured. Still, Rowe said she hopes for Edge Bar to offer a unique, late-night happy hour for those who get out of work later than most people.
“The plan is to do something special for people in the service industry,” she said.
In addition to a wide selection of specialty cocktails, Edge Bar also offers beer, wine, appetizers such as garlic shrimp and cheesy bread, and entrees such as prime rib, lobster mac and cheese and quesadillas. Rowe said the bar currently employees five people, but more, such as a cook for the weekends, are needed.
Plans to open Edge Bar were first publicized in April, after Fatboys Saloon, which opened in 2013 amid some controversy that it was a biker bar and would attract a boisterous crowd, closed in March. Rowe predicted that those who are familiar with what Fatboys looked like would be surprised at how different the space looks now.
“We gutted it and redid everything,” she said.
“I think it came out great. I like the design,” Ryan Glidden, the Portland contractor who did the interior construction, said Monday, as he watched a few minutes of golf while sitting at the bar. “It was fun to build.”
The few reviews Edge Bar has received on Facebook have been entirely positive. “Very nice. Friendly service. Can’t wait to go back,” one user wrote on Saturday.
According to Rowe, some people have already visited Edge Bar more than once. “It’s really weird to have regulars after only three days, but that’s a good thing,” she said.
— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].
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