Stonefire Emphasizing Pub Area

As Kendall Pub is moving toward a family restaurant atmosphere, is upgrading its pub area with a separate entrance and a new juke box.

Stonefire Restaurant opened 2075 Marketview Drive in September 2006 with 225 seats, including 16 in a private event room. They offer 30 wines by the glass, a selection of craft beers and a variety of live music, but General Manager Nathan Bales wanted to do more to distinguish the pub.

So, starting two months ago, crews added an entrance for the pub, which sits on the building's east side. They also added doors labeled "pub" inside the building to separate that area from the seating for traditional casual diners.

"We need some segregation so the bar-goers feel like they're in the pub and not family dining," Bales said.

Now, customers who want a pub atmosphere can enter through the east entrance or just turn left after walking in the main doors without checking in with the hostess, Bales said.

Staff is going to restrict the bar area to adults after 8 p.m. but the atmosphere will remain classy, Bales said. For example, the live music will continue to be soloists or groups of three or fewer, and the music will be at conversation level.

"We're not going to compete with a sports bar," Bales said.

Other mainstays will remain. Families with young children can still expect to find crayons and a kids menu to occupy their little ones, while couples can have a date night with steak and a good glass of wine.

Bales said the changes were not a response to about their downtown plans, which include expanding and and adding a Mongolian BBQ-style restaurant in the former Bridge Street Cafe.

Rather, the pub emphasis was in response to a "substantial uptick in business," he said.

"The timing just happened to be coincidental," he said.

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