Elbow_Room_2.jpg
A new Mexican restaurant and bar is planned for the former Elbow Room.
(Tom Perkins | For The Ann Arbor News)
After several years of delay, the owner of the former Elbow Room says a new bar will be open in the downtown Ypsilanti watering hole in 2015.
Andrew Epstein, who purchased the Elbow Room in 2012, says the original concept of converting the space into a Mexican restaurant and bar remains in place, but he'll likely first open as a bar with limited food options or no food at all.
Regardless of what edibles are offered at the grand opening, Epstein underscores that the bar will reopen this year once renovations are complete.
“Things are definitely happening now. We are going to be opening this year in the downstairs space,” he says.
Epstein, who is opening the establishment with his girlfriend, says he owns a liquor license but needs to complete significant electrical work, structural work and install a sprinkler system among other items prior to obtaining a certificate of occupancy. The scope and cost of those projects will determine the timeline and what sort of kitchen service is offered.
Plans originally called for a Mexican restaurant and bar in the old Elbow Room and several apartments in the second story, but costs and renovation work that wasn't anticipated slowed the project, which Epstein originally hoped to complete in 2013.
The focus of his efforts briefly shifted to completing the apartments prior to the restaurant and bar, but Epstein says the focus is once again downstairs and will remain there until he's serving Coronas and margaritas.
“It has been an awesome learning process but we’re definitely opening this year,” he says. “We’ve never been closer than we are now to making it happen.”
So far, Epstein has put on a new roof, finished most of the demolition work and started work on the apartments. The city’s building inspector, Frank Daniels, said several permits have been pulled and another inspection is scheduled for Jan. 28.
Epstein says he envisions a “comfortable, laid-back bar that serves homemade Mexican food” once the renovation is complete, and adds that live music “is definitely part of the vision”, though only several nights monthly.
But the primary focus is the food and booze, and the one-page menu will offer a simple, homemade Mexican fare including antojitos (Mexican small plates), tacos, flautas, quesadillas, agua fresca, salsas, and seasonal dishes like ceviche.