Guys
JD McHargue, Doug Breeding and David Langley stand under a portrait of Clay over the fireplace in the front of Henry Clay's Public House
A stack stone fireplace and dark stained wood greet those entering under what appears to be a barrister’s shingle at Henry Clay’s Public House. Gold leaf lettering and a pointing finger on the windows send you in the direction of the door stating “Henry Clay, Attorney At Law,” on Upper Street, facing the Old Courthouse.
“We decided it would be crazy not to develop it as what it was… so we call it Henry Clay’s Public House,” said Doug Breeding, owner of the bar housed in a building once owned by former Speaker of the House Henry Clay.
“We see Thursday, Friday and Saturday as an accommodation of what’s already here,” Breeding said. “Thursday Night Live and the weekends are very vibrant and we want to entertain a broad spectrum of people during those days. We’ll have bands, we’ll have trios, we’ll have duos and we’ll try to make them appeal to a broad spectrum.”
Breeding and JD McHargue, who’ve teamed up before in both incarnations of Breeding’s, The Brewery, Blue Moon, the Dixie Tavern, High Rollers and Crazy Jack’s wanted a feeling of history in their new bar. The front of the bar boasting the fireplace is capped by exposed beams, and wall behind the stage at the rear of the bar is reconfigured doors from the Security Trust building, giving the area where they expect to have bands on the weekends if not throughout the week a heavily lacquered sheen.
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A view from the front of the bar with the newly built bar back to the left and the stage on the back wall.
A testament to the extensive sweat equity that went into renovating the space, is the dark wood bar designed from an old photograph Breeding had and was constructed by Master Finish Carpenter Mike Engle and bar manager David Langley.
“We’ve both been out of the business for a while… we’d always wanted to do something like this, we’ve never had a neighborhood bar like this, we’ve always had nightclubs. We’d like to thing that the bar itself could be some kind of destination, before its always been who’s your entertainment, who’s your national act, who’s your DJ and all that,” Breeding said.
They’ve pushed to be open this week so they could host for the opening longtime Lexington music scene fixtures, the Squirrels, who are playing Thursday Night Live and will lead a procession across Upper to Henry Clay’s Public House upon the completion of their set, Breeding said.
The band is made up of musicians that Breeding and McHargue have known over time through their venues, including Breeding’s, that both in its original location on New Circle and then downtown across from Heritage Hall hosted an assortment of major national acts like Greg Allman and Ray Charles.
The new venue’s first weekend will draw family as well as customers as the Nashville-based band, The Breedings (his daughter and son) take the stage on Friday and Saturday.
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“We’re going to have the beer that you like, the bourbon that you like, but if you want to come in and have say a high-end bourbon cocktail we’re going to provide our own simple syrups, we’re going to infuse with different flavors and we’re going to try to make presentation part of the deal,” he said.
The bar was taking deliveries Monday morning, and is planning to have 30 beers in bottles as well as a dozen on tap, with a focus on craft brews.