With roughly 300 customers waiting in line, HopCat officially opened the doors to its seventh location on Saturday, in the Square in downtown Lexington.
With a special beer list created to mark the occasion and a promotional giveaway of a year’s worth of the restaurant’s specialty “Crack Fries” to its first 200 patrons, HopCat grand openings are often busy events, said spokesperson Chris Knape, but the company was pleased with its first-day reception in Lexington. The craft beer bar, restaurant and soon-to-be brewery is known for its extensive selection of more than 100 craft beer offerings.
So what was the first keg to be blown at HopCat’s grand opening event?
West Sixth IPA, according to Knape.
“We got tons of positive and constructive feedback, and the warm welcome we got from the people of Lexington is one we will not forget,” Knape said.
Knape said the restaurant has also received solid support from nearby businesses, including fellow Square tenants Saul Good, Vinaigrette and Urban Outfitters. The HopCat location, which faces Short Street, marked the last sizable vacancy on the ground floor of the Square, Knape added, noting that the new investment and overall revitalization on the block is beginning to pay off for business owners and the city.
HopCat has hired 138 employees for its new Lexington location, Knape said, and commissioned unique artwork for the restaurant’s interior. HopCat’s new location also features event space that can seat up to 150 upstairs, complete with its own bar and separate balconies above the Square’s atrium, to accommodate business meetings, social events and other gatherings.
The Lexington location will also be the first one outside of the restaurant chain’s original location in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to have its own small-batch brewery. Knape said the company expects to have its brewing equipment up and running in the next few weeks for its test batches, with hopes to have product available by the end of the year.
“Beer takes time, so we want to do it right,” Knape said.
Knape said that HopCat has gotten a warm welcome from Lexington’s growing community of craft brewers and will be looking to collaborate with them on new brews in the near future.
“We hope that we can add a lot to the Kentucky craft beer scene by serving as a showcase and helping [customers] get to know some Kentucky beers that they maybe haven’t tried yet,” Knape said.