 "Photo: Matt Castro")
On Thursday, Aggieville welcomed a new face to its late night scene. The Ale House, which filled the void left by Tank’s Tavern, offered free T-shirts to the first 500 customers in the door.
Brett Allred, an owner of the location since it was known as Tank’s, said the idea to redesign the space came from business necessity.
“We were a great closing bar,” said Allred as he remembered the location before the change. “I think we can still do that.”
Unlike Tank’s, the Ale House was born on the idea that a place could be both a good bar for those to spend the end of their nights in Aggieville and a good place for people to begin their nights.
To establish the concept, Allred said he set out to change the whole atmosphere, shorten the bar to help the area feel more open and remodeling the walls to make it look like an old fashioned tavern. Ale House also announced it would be opening at 4 p.m.
In fact, the only thing Allred said he kept from Tank’s was the dance floor in the back. Other than that, Ale House represents a complete change from the former theme of the location. The change wasn’t free though.
“I basically reinvested what I had from Tank’s back into it,” said Allred.
Allred also said the new theme of the location brings an updated approach to what is served there. He said the intention in the short term is to have an “Ale of the Week,” a featured drink which will be unique to Ale House.
Adam Veatch, Manhattan resident, used to attend Tank’s and said the new theme applies to a group of potential customers that previously had not been catered to.
“Early opening will help,” said Veatch, “It’s one of the places you can go after work and have a beer.”
Veatch said the redesign of the location made it completely different from what it used to be and the changes are probably a good thing.
“It’s more of an actual pub now,” he said, “compared to a party place.”
Jamison Bosch, fifth year senior in finance, said he liked the new floor space caused by moving of the bar from the center of the room to its current location about ten feet from the door.
“It was kind of crowded with the old setup,” Bosch said.
