BarFly Ventures announces HopCat Lexington, Kentucky’s largest craft beer bar

Written By: Chris Vandergrift on 03/24/2015

BarFly Ventures announces HopCat - Lexington, Kentucky's largest craft beer bar

$3 million restaurant, taphouse and brewery expected to open in August          

 

MARCH 24, 2015 LEXINGTON, KY - BarFly Ventures today announced plans to open HopCat - Lexington, a $3 million restaurant and craft beer bar, in the heart of historic downtown Lexington.

Pending approval from state and local authorities, HopCat will open in August at 410 W. Short St. with up to 140 different craft beers on tap and seating for about 300, making it the Commonwealth's largest showcase of craft beer. HopCat recently signed a long-term lease on a multi-story space inside The Square, fronting West Short Street across from the historic Lexington Opera House.

HopCat is committed to supporting Kentucky's innovative craft breweries and will feature 40 or more Kentucky-brewed beers every day along with the best in craft beers from around the world. HopCat will also implement its industry-leading sustainability program, with a goal of composting and recycling more than 90 percent of the waste it generates.

"The Square in downtown Lexington is perfect for HopCat due to its proximity to downtown employers, healthy neighborhoods, universities and cultural attractions such as the Lexington Opera House," said HopCat Founder Mark Sellers. "I believe HopCat - Lexington will serve as a hub for craft beer culture and support the continued growth of microbreweries in the state."

HopCat - Lexington will create 150 new jobs and revitalize a space that has been vacant for several years. Extensive renovations on the two-story space will include restoring a transparent storefront along Short Street, creating a new kitchen, adding a small-batch microbrewery, original artwork throughout and installation of a state-of-the-art 140-tap draft system.

HopCat's scratch kitchen will specialize in homemade "food your mom would make if she loved craft beer," including its famously addictive Crack Fries.

When it opens, HopCat - Lexington will be the seventh location for the award-winning craft beer bar, which was founded in 2008 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In January HopCat was named one of the nation's best craft beer bars by Draft Magazine. For the past three years CraftBeer.com has named HopCat as one of its Top 5 Great American Beer Bars.

 

About BarFly Ventures

Founded in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 2008, BarFly Ventures is the parent company of HopCat, a craft beer bar named "No. 3 Beer Bar on Planet Earth" by Beer Advocate Magazine and "No. 1 Brewpub in the United States" by RateBeer.com. HopCat has locations in Grand Rapids, East Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Indianapolis. HopCat will open in Madison, Wis., this summer. BarFly Ventures also owns and operates Stella's Lounge, a whiskey and retro-arcade bar in Grand Rapids with Giant Stuffed Burgers named "Best in America" by GQ Magazine. BarFly also owns the award-winning Grand Rapids Brewing Company, Michigan's only certified organic brewpub, and McFadden's Restaurant & Saloon, host of Irish on Ionia, Michigan's largest St. Patrick's Day Street Party.