A before shot: It’s a mess! A before shot: It’s come a long way. on Sundays.Ĭheck out more before and after photos below: The upstairs lounge area There are TWO unisex bathrooms! Check this out with your 3-D glasses! A little nook area upstairs A before shot: A lot of work had to be done. Words can’t really do the space any justice, so be sure to stop in sometime to check it out after Wednesday.Īnd speaking of 10 years, Bryan says the bar’s official 10 Year Anniversary Celebration will be held the week of May 18-22, so get ready to throw down and dance the night away.īig Bar is located at 1202 Bardstown Road, and it opens at 4 p.m. Plus, as Bryan said, there will be more of everything, including a bigger premium bourbon selection, new cocktails, more beer taps, more TVs, and even a handful of zero-proof cocktails.īig Bar first opened its doors on May 1, 2012, and now, 10 years later just about to the exact day, it’s both growing and showing to the delight of its numerous regulars, including myself.

One of the new features at the bar is the state-of-the-art Highball Machine that pumps out the fizziest soda water you’ve ever tasted. “It’s been 10 years in the making, so I want it to be 100% from when the doors open,” he says. And on the second floor, which overlooks the dance area, there’s a swanky lounge where you can chill with bigger groups, and even a small little four-top table hidden away in a private nook.īryan seemed excited but stressed with last-minute details that needed tending to. There’s also a new bar on the ground floor as well, along with the two bathrooms. And lining the walls are pub tables and chairs where you can hang while you muster the courage to cut a rug. There’s a large dance floor with a DJ booth perched up on the second floor. In fact, if you order a certain drink, it’ll come with a pair of 3-D glasses that you can use in one of the two new unisex bathrooms. The massive two-level structure just oozes with neon, funk and sophistication. I stopped by the bigger bar the week before it was slated to open - Wednesday, May 4 - and Bryan showed off some cool new features. “Having more space means I can do so much more - more events, more mixers, more drag shows, more drinks and, yes, even more bathrooms,” Bryan says. And he wants his community - everyone from neighbors and friends to his LGBTQ cohorts and regulars - to enjoy a space that is inclusive, fun, vibrant and even glows in the dark. Throw a global pandemic into the mix and supply chain issues that ensued, and you have a valid explanation of why it has taken this long. And if a contractor says one year, you better plan for two. People will finally stop asking: “When will it be done?” | Photo by Sara Havensīut projects, as we know, take time. Bryan says he immediately started envisioning a grand extension of Big Bar, which would actually incorporate two floors. Of course Bryan and his investors swooped in and scooped up the real estate. Then, at the very end of 2018, Big Bar’s next-door neighbor The Wine Market closed, leaving a massive 2,000-square-foot space that actually shared a wall with the bar. It got crowded most nights, but it worked. But Bryan added some patio furniture and an extra urinal, and it worked.

He was content with 500 square feet, and the bar quickly found a groove in Louisville’s nightlife scene. When is it going to open? What are you planning? Will there be more bathrooms? A dance floor? When is it going to open? When is it going to open? When is it going to open?īut first, some background: The little Highlands bar with the Big name is all but 500 square feet, and Bryan knew that when he opened his gay bar in 2012, the first of its kind on Bardstown Road that now boasts two more. The new Big Bar oozes neon in an awesome way! | Photo by Sara Havensįor the past four years, Big Bar owner Kevin Bryan has had to endure nonstop questioning about some wide open spaces next door.

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