According to Paul Sewell, the chain's corporate marketing director, the mammoth restaurant, bar and live music venue named for country crooner Toby Keith and his 2003 hit single, "I Love This Bar," will take over the recently vacated Borders bookstore at 8260 Northfield Boulevard. "Denver is a great city for us because of its strong country music market and Northfield is a perfect model for us -- a growing community with a great mix-use center with retail, bars, entertainment and restaurants," explains Sewell, who anticipates an early September opening.
"It's really all about the manifestation of the song," says Sewell of the venue, which "tells the story of Toby Keith and his career and pays tribute to the country music scene." The space, flanked by an 85-foot guitar-shaped bar, will also swagger more than 100 pieces of Toby Keith memorabilia -- everything from guitars to jackets -- a dance floor, live music five nights a week, "Toby", the mechanical bull, and a Southern-style menu that'll hustle, among other things, red, white and blue nachos, chicken-fried steak, meatloaf, burgers, a fried bologna sandwich, barbecue, deep-fried Twinkies and freedom fries! And 32-ounce beers in mason jars. "Toby grew up on good 'ol comfort food, like fried bologna sandwiches and deep-fried Twinkies," reveals Sewell.
And Keith, who's nearly as renowned for his outspokenness on supporting American troops as he is for his music, also stamped his menu with an "American Soldier" burger, which is free if you flash your military ID. Freedom fries, obviously, are included.
But that's not all: Each of the chain's ten locations extols the attributes of the "Whiskey Girls," whom you'll recognize, says Sewell, by their cut-off shorts, black T-shirts, cowboy boots and hats. "They're fun and impromptu and known to dance on the bar when the mood hits," he warns.
Yippie-yi-ya!
