Lexington, KY - Nick Ryan's Saloon stands at an address on Jefferson Street that, not long ago, was an empty lot. And now, the restaurant that sprouted from the once-empty lot is about to expand to its neighboring parcel.
Lexington restauranteur and developer Don Wathen, along with his wife, Barb, purchased the lot and intended to built a custom space downstairs that would be fit up for a restaurant and two apartments upstairs. They planned to lease the restaurant space to a local, independent establishment.
"In this economy, the way things have been going, it's hard to find an independent, but I felt that the whole trend was going toward people being for local," said Wathen. "People wanted to support local and I felt that downtown Lexington was sitting there humming and especially Jefferson street and I just looked at her one day and I said, let's just do it ourselves."
In November 2010, Nick Ryan's Saloon opened and began to fill up with diners from downtown and beyond. The restaurant, with its intimate dining room, is often on a wait and the bar has itself become a destination thanks to custom creations and friendly banter from the bartender and managing partner Adam Geissler.
After several months of full house nights at Nick Ryan's, the Wathens decided to expand. A house next door that also was available seemed a logical choice, but there was a lot of work to do and the property needed someone with a vision.
"I always knew I wanted that piece of property, even before I got (Nick Ryan's) open...I'm going to totally restore it: same facade, same everything. It's got a front porch just like (Nick Ryan's), but I'm going to connect the two, make the two lots the same, so everything here will be 157 Jefferson St."
In addition to two apartments upstairs, the property will add some support space for Nick Ryan's: 14 parking spaces, a patio in the back, an additional prep kitchen, an office and another small dining room with about 30 seats. The expansion is projected to be completed by May 1.
"We're getting an awful lot of people asking us about reservations and parties," said Wathen. "I don't want to hurt the integrity of Nick Ryan's, and we will probably try to keep it first come, first served, but the room might end up being for reservations and parties. I guess the business really dictates what I do and we're just stumbling and crawling before walking and running."
Even though Nick Ryan's is making the most visible expansion right now, other businesses on the street are also making changes that indicate the increased traffic in the area.
The Grey Goose, which serves pizza and pub food, is opening for lunch every day beginning at 11:00 a.m. And Stella's Kentucky Deli is now offering dinner Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until 9:00 p.m.
Though the businesses are necessarily competitors, there is a cooperative attitude between the owners and operators, who all seem invested in the neighborhood as well as their own success.
"We're all in this game together...people will come in and we'll say the wait is an hour and they'll say here's our number we're going up to The Grey Goose and have some drinks and call us when the table is ready," said Wathen. "Or we'll have a group of couples come in and we can't seat the whole group, so they just split up and half went down and had their pizza, and half stayed here and had their food. If that's not teamwork and working together, what is?"