Tom Behr acknowledges that competition in the Lexington restaurant market is stiffer than ever. But the owner of Pazzo’s Pizza Pub, who helped sons Brian and Brett launch The Village Idiot and The Beer Trappe, respectively, isn’t one to hunker down in hopes the pace of new openings will slow. He’s assisting his sons again by developing 815 Euclid Ave., readily for a planned November launch of a new restaurant named Bear & The Butcher. Meanwhile, he’s also giving Pazzo’s, his first restaurant, a boost of its own with a significant mid-summer overhaul.
The way Behr sees it, the key to keeping his family’s concepts relevant is adjusting quickly and evolving with market changes. And if new inspiration can’t be found in Lexington, they hop onto a jet for a look at what’s happening elsewhere.
“Travel is great for us. We get a lot of ideas that way,” says Behr, who’s been to Europe and the British Isles nearly three dozen times. This time, however, ideas leading to Bear & The Butcher came from concepts visited in the U.S. “We’ve seen places like these popping up on the West Coast and cities like Chicago.”
The 4,000-square-foot Euclid space, located next door to The Beer Trappe, will feature two floors with an open atrium between them. The main floor will seat about 50 near a Ushaped bar, and glass garage doors will lift open and lead onto outside seating near and along the sidewalk. The upstairs will also seat about 50 and have glass doors leading onto a balcony that will overhang the sidewalk. Outdoor seats both above and below will total 40.
Jackie Stewart of Stewart Architecture is the lead architect, and Eddie Turner is the general contractor.
“Inferior decorators are me and my two sons,” Behr joked. “But I think we’ve done pretty well on our other properties.”
The menu remains under development, and since the opening date isn’t until November, there’s ample time for refinement. What Behr knows for certain is it’ll be a meat-centered lineup. The restaurant will receive whole animals and primal cuts from suppliers that will be cut on site in a large butcher’s cooler. Some of those cuts will be made into sausages served at the restaurant and sold to The Village Idiot, Pazzo’s and other Lexington companies whose names Behr declined to share. Beef for burgers at all Behr-owned restaurants will be custom ground there as well.
Instead of bringing on a traditional executive chef, Jason Ritchie, current chef at The Village Idiot, will oversee all kitchen operations at Bear & The Butcher, Pazzo’s and The Village Idiot.
“This gives him a new and interesting opportunity to work on things somewhat like a corporate chef would,” Behr said. “He’s great at what he does already, so we want his influence over all our restaurants.”
Bear & The Butcher will have a full bar, but given its location next door to The Beer Trappe, Behr said they’ll take particular care not to compete with that concept’s offerings. It’ll serve lunch and dinner daily and brunch on weekends, and live music can be expected on evenings and weekends.
Unlike Pazzo’s and The Village Idiot, service at Bear & The Butcher will be fast casual. Guests will order at the counter and their food will be delivered to the table by runners who manage guests’ needs. Behr said the success of new competitors opening near Pazzo’s convinced him customers want limited service and foods that cook quickly.
“There are so many new places on the block [near Pazzo’s] where customers can walk in and be out in 15 minutes, and we can’t compete with that right now,” he said. The most common complaints fi elded at Pazzo’s therefore, is that service is slow, he said.
“Young people don’t seem to mind waiting in line for their food, but when they sit down and order food they think, ‘Man, the service is really slow here.’ It’s weird how the young people perceive it these days.”
Acknowledging the need for speed — as well as a refreshed look — Behr will overhaul Pazzo’s facility at the end of July and create a new menu. Like Butcher & The Bear, it also will get new garage doors leading onto the sidewalk. More TVs will be added (about 40 total, Behr said), new tabletops will come in along with a new paint scheme.
“As far as the look … it’s just time we did it,” Behr said. “But as far as the concept, we kind of had the corner of the market on craft beer when we opened, and it’s not that way anymore.”
Acknowledging one edge his competition has on Pazzo’s, Behr said it’s long past time for the pizza pub to focus more on bourbon and cocktails. He said he never wanted a cocktail bar and still doesn’t, but that it’s wise to find a happy medium for guests.
“We need to do it, that’s all there is to it,” he said. “People want that variety and expect it. So we’ll have four to five signature cocktails on our menu that will be really good and made just by us.”
Its popular pizza selection will remain largely unscathed “because that’s what we’re known for,” but to reduce service times, parbaked flatbreads will be added to the menu.
For the first time, Pazzo’s also will get fryers to take advantage of soaring demand for fried wings, potatoes and chips for nachos. Wings lovers will get to choose from 10 diff erent sauces, while spud fans can share a selection of loaded fries. Expect new salads and vegetarian options, too.
“We’re going to have a lot of food that can come out in five to 10 minutes,” Behr said. “Where you came to Pazzo’s mostly for pizzas, now you can have much more and have it faster.”
The restaurant will be closed July 31 through Aug. 2 for final construction, staff training and a private friends-and-family unveiling. The grand reopening to the public happens Aug. 3.