A beer-soaked rumpus room becomes an upscale gastropub in the debut of our new restaurant-design page.
Seattle homeboy Mike Kenney had no idea what he was getting into when he bought the crumbling, barnlike building in Tempe that once housed Minder Binders, an iconic college hangout famed for its kitschy memorabilia and tales of rowdy, beer-fueled abandon. Looking to revive the property, Kenney ran headlong into a thick barricade of dust, cigarette butts and peanut shells. So he scrapped the revival idea and started fresh, creating a quieter, cleaner, more upscale bar and restaurant that might appeal to college people who were decidedly not frat boys. “[I just] ripped off the Band-Aid,” he says. Among the property’s many upgrades: the upstairs “rafter room,” where cocktails, dinner and live music are offered on Friday and Saturday nights.
1. Eliminating clutter
Pre-rehab, the upstairs looked like an aging movie mogul’s attic. Crammed with canoes, wagons, Santa’s sleigh, a 14-foot statue of a Roman gladiator and the skeleton of a 19th-century Inuit whaling boat, the space was cleared out following a rummage sale in late 2017.
2. High-ceiling haven
The 27-foot tall raftered ceiling reflects the bones of the original barnlike building – and helps guide the new restaurant’s upscale rustic décor. Kenney also exploited the high ceiling to install a digital projector for movies, shows and events.
3. Distressed walls
Designer Camila Gibbs from L.A.’s Sawyer Design Company created the distressed plaster walls, which give the room a weathered, textured look and invoke an intimate, old-world aesthetic.
4. Salvaged Lights
Gibbs also scored a slew of antique lights formerly used in voting booths. She used them to create a retro-modern wall fixture that dimly glows above the bar, bathing the space in a mellow, cathedral-like glow.
5. Barrel-aged cocktails
What communicates “upscale farmhouse” more clearly than “barrel-aged cocktails”? Vanilla bean-scented Boulevardiers, Bee’s Knees with house-made berry bitters and reposado tequila Old-Fashioneds with chocolate bitters prove the cocktail program rocks.
Social Hall
715 S. McClintock Dr., Tempe
480-747-3851, azsocialhall.com
