Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Final Review: EtOH's Drafthouse

12/26/2016: Jeebus. It's been 2 years since work started on EtOH's and what a ride it has been. If you're seeing this random update then know that I plan to put together an update on how the last 2 years have been. Hopefully by the end of January!

     Well, I'll have to be honest right from the start. This review isn't really a review as it would be horribly biased. You see, around May of last year (2014) we decided to look into opening a bar in Daegu. Over the months we refined our concept, decided what to serve and how to serve it, and of course looked for locations. Finally in December 2014, we got a call from a realtor who thought he had a great space for us. We checked it out, thought that it had potential, and construction began. Here we are in April 2015 and me and my wife have opened EtOH's. So instead of my usual review, I decided that I would just walk through some of the features of our bar/pub and explain some of the decisions we made and why we made them. This will likely be the last post for Dumb in Daegu.






     One of our biggest concerns going into this was the size of the space. Too big and the place will feel empty even if there are a decent number of people inside. Too small and there won't be enough room for people to sit down or move around the bar easily. I think that we've landed on a nice size. We currently have thirteen tables, one of which can seat eight with most of the other tables designed to be able to be pushed together easily with additional chairs stacked up for people to use. There is also ample seating available at the bar. One area of the bar next to the register has no seats to allow for tables to place orders easily. We also have two dart machines, a separate smoking room(with exhaust fan), and a balcony with large folding door windows for nice days.



     As readers of this blog will know, I love beer. It's always time for beer in my opinion. This was one of the things I wanted to focus on the most when we first started this venture. We installed 12 draft beer taps and are trying to provide a good selection of beers for whatever mood that you're in. Here's our current taplist as of Monday, April 20th, 2015.
1. Guinness
2. Stella Artois
3. Lost Coast Sharkinator
4. Lost Coast Watermelon Wheat
5. Ka-Brew Dark Ale
6. Ka-Brew I.P.A.
7. Ka-Brew Weizen
8. Ka-Brew Golden Ale
9. Red Rock
10. Cass
11. OPEN
12. OPEN
     Currently we're using ten of our twelve taps and I hope we get those last two filled sooner rather than later, but there are so many options out there these days, even in Korea. I hope that if you have a beer that you would like to see then feel free to let me know and I'll definitely look into it. We also have a growing bottle list that changes all the time as I only order case by case.
    If you're wondering why I would include Cass on my taplist next to some of these amazing craft beers, it's simply because I think that not everyone is into the craft beer scene yet, and I realize that craft beers can tend to be a little pricy. I don't think you should have to break the bank to have a good time at our bar.
     Speaking of the bar, we have a full service bar and an ever growing liquor selection. Do you like gin? We've got both Tanqueray and Hendrick's. How about whiskey? We have seven choices, and I've got three more coming in next week. Top-shelf and mid-range are available. Again, if we don't have it, then let me know and I'll see what I can do.



     Ah yes, let's not forget about the food. We're focusing on hand made American-style pizzas. I know that a ton of places offer a thin crust "Napoli" style pizza these days, but this is the kind of pizza that I grew up on. The crust is a little thicker and the toppings are a little heavier. We have a few specialty pizzas and you have the option to build your own. Do you love pepperoni? That picture is with a single serving of pepperoni, but you can order double or even triple pepperoni if you want. I doubt that you would even be able to see the cheese with a triple order though, and I imagine it would be pretty greasy, but hey, if you like it like that, then that's what we'll give you. Our dough and sauce are meat free, so vegetarians and vegans need not worry, in fact we have an option to order a pizza with no cheese at all for our vegan friends, we even discount the pizza for you!
     If you're not a pizza fan then we'll have some toasted baguette sandwiches launching soon. We put the sandwich together, wrap it in foil, and put it into the oven. It's pretty tasty. There are also Kettle Chips and homemade onion dip if you just want a snack.





    Music is another issue that we thought about. Right now we're experimenting with an internet jukebox system. Get the app on your smartphone and start requesting songs. The system is still a little buggy. Iphone users report the most problems, and there seem to be some issues with songs getting skipped, but it works 90% of the time. So if you don't like the music then you have the power to change it.

     We've already learned a lot from our soft opening and hope to be ready for our grand opening weekend on April 24th, 25th and 26th. We'll be running specials (like 2,000 won Cass for example) all weekend long. Check out our Facebook page for more information as it becomes available.

https://www.facebook.com/Etohskorea

Hours of Operation
Monday: 4 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 4 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Thursday: 4 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Friday: 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.
Note that these are not hard closing times. If the bar is busy and everyone's having a good time on Friday around 2 a.m. then we'll gladly stay open later, also if the bar is completely empty at 12:00 on Thursday we might start to close up. I think that this is a good policy, but we'll see how it goes.

I can't think of what else to say, so if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can reach me through Facebook, and I hope to see you at the bar!

Final Review: 100/5 (remember how I said I was biased on this one?)

Location: EtOH's is located downtown near Banwoldang station exit 10 on the fashion road that connects Rodeo Street and the Gallery Zone road. We're right next to Samduk Super. Here's  a map.
https://www.google.co.kr/maps/@35.8660236,128.5982358,18z/data=!4m2!6m1!1szfkvgobKY6ps.kPjvegsFLoqM?hl=en

5 comments:

  1. This place was soooo good. It reminded me of home. The awesome jukebox app is really fun. I can't wait to go back! Thanks Ryan and friendsss!

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  2. Congratulations on the opening, and, thanks for thinking of, and providing for, the vegan eaters among us.

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  3. Been refreshing the blog since November looking for another review! Sorry this blog is going away but Mazel tov on the bar!

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  4. Best chicken sub in Daegu. Comes with kettlebell chips too!

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  5. I gotta love Etoh's. Had my bachelorette party here (sorry about all the paper penises my friends made!) and organized a goodbye party for a friend. Ya'll always have good drinks and amazing pizza. Definitely my favorite bar in Daegu. Hope you continue to do well in the future.

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