Hank heavens!
The owner of Hank’s Saloon announced she will move her beloved bar into a new Downtown home instead of permanently shuttering the honky-tonk hangout when it is forced from its current digs later this year.
“We’re looking forward to bringing our family over to a new corner,” Julie Ipcar said in an Aug. 27 Facebook post. “I feel lucky that we are able to continue into the future with all that you expect from Hank’s.”
Ipcar pledged to reopen her saloon last November when she announced its landlord would soon boot it from the Third Avenue spot it occupied for decades, and afterwards honchos at barbecue joint Hill Country approached her about bringing it to the Adams Street spaces they closed last December ahead of their transformation into a new food hall, she said.
“It was pretty much a no-brainer when they asked if we wanted to move in,” Ipcar said. “We had been looking at spaces and really wanted to stay in our neighborhood.”
The proprietor’s new Hank’s at Hill Country iteration will not be an exact replica of the century-old tavern where local Native American ironworkers used to imbibe and live-music fans flock to today, Ipcar said, but patrons can expect the shows to go on, not least because the barbecue bigwigs opened a stage for live performances in their Brooklyn location after debuting it in 2014.
“Hank’s Saloon at 46 Third Ave. will go down in history as being a very special place. We’ll never be able to recreate it as it is now, nor should we,” she said. “We’re continuing to support live music here in Brooklyn.”
The renovated Hill Country Food Hall is set to open as soon as this October, with the second coming of Hank’s debuting inside on its second floor shortly thereafter.
Loyal customers will be able to enter the watering hole’s new location through a dedicated entrance inside the eatery, according to Ipcar, who said the new space will allow for upgrades including a larger dance floor that will give patrons even more room to cut a rug.
“I can’t wait to see it grow in ways that we could never do with the limitations at our current space,” she said.
And fans of Hank’s long-time location — including Brooklyn musician Andy Friedman, whose 2009 song “Freddy’s Backroom” predicted its development-incited demise following earlier fears that the bar would face the wrecking ball — can still return for a farewell drink even after the new spot debuts, because Ipcar will keep the booze flowing on Third Avenue until late December, she said.
