A second bar with a country music theme is opening in The Flats next month.
The new country music bar is named I Hate Cowboys. With a focus on bourbon, the cocktail bar comes from Forward Hospitality Group in partnership with country music star Chase Rice. The name of the establishment nods to one of Rice’s hit songs. This bar sits next to Welcome To The Farm, one of Forward Hospitality Group’s other properties. The plan is to have it opened by St. Patrick’s Day.
“Chase came out with an album about a year ago now. And that song really resonated from how it's written. It's basically, I hate cowboys because they're the coolest guys and everything they do kind of works out,” says Bobby Rutter, Forward Hospitality Group’s COO. “For the average guy, that's a bit frustrating. It was just a really cool kind of bar vibe of what we thought would work really well. And we can give it an identity of being that Western Americana type of vibe.”
Rice isn’t just the inspiration behind the bar, he’s involved in it on a deeper level.
“He's pretty involved in the process of the direction we take things,” says Rutter. “He lets us do our job, but definitely likes to have a hand on the creative, which is a welcome thing to us”
The experience at I Hate Cowboys will be different from Welcome To The Farm, despite the shared ownership and proximity to each other.
“You’re kind of in the party atmosphere of [Welcome to] The Farm, but you’re removed from it,” says Rutter. “It's great because it's small, and it's predominantly bar seating. There's maybe 30 other chairs in there, but this is really the design of just one huge bar, which is what we like.”
I Hate Cowboys is looking to draw bourbon drinkers to its barstools. While the list of whiskeys is always changing, Rutter mentioned that the bar plans to carry several Pappy Van Winkle bourbons as well as Eagle Rare Bourbon and Blanton’s Bourbon.
Welcome To The Farm and I Hate Cowboys will share a kitchen, but the new 2,400-square-foot space will also have a handful of exclusive dining options, such as bison tartare.
For now, the plan is to have I Hate Cowboys open seven days per week during the peak season and five days per week during the offseason.
Additionally, a sports bar called Hi 5, will be opened in the space above Welcome To The Farm in the coming months by Forward Hospitality Group. Details on that space have not yet been finalized, however an opening in April is expected.
Both spaces will be available for private and corporate events, as well.
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