*Editor’s Note: Staci Henderson, a WKU alumna, previously wrote for the Talisman from February of 2020 to April of 2021.
Two years ago, as Staci Henderson lay in bed, she devised an idea to bring a piece of New York to Bowling Green through borough-inspired cocktails and city reflectant décor. With a dream and a red-and-pink-themed Pinterest board with neon light signs, heart-shaped mirrors, checkered floors and a Chrysler building art print, Henderson crafted her ideal bar.
“I was thinking about different variations of cocktail menus, different things that I would want to try out with menus with different bars, and I got an idea to do a menu called ‘The Boroughs’ with one drink for each borough of New York,” she said. “From there, I just started writing down everything that I could think of that was associated with New York.”
Henderson, a Barlow native, said she came up with around 12 event ideas and 10 to 12 various cocktail flavors, which have blossomed into Metro bar, a pub opening in April in downtown Bowling Green.
Despite being a journalism major, Henderson, a WKU alumna, said her previous business classes assisted her preparation process the most. In her entrepreneurship class, she learned how to create a business plan, which is what she did the night she discovered Metro’s current location was for sale, previously housing Tattoo Heartland.
Henderson said her bar is for anyone who wants to try something new, to come and visit people working on the staff, or to see how the building has changed. She said she’s looking to create a comfortable, laid-back ambiance where people feel invited and welcomed at her “shotgun-style bar,” referring to the building’s narrow, rectangular layout.
“I’ve been a person that’s walked into a bar before that’s just been like, ‘Where do I even go? Where do I sit down?’” she said. “It seems like a process to decide what exactly to do whenever you go into some places.”
While there are no plans for live entertainment, Henderson has gathering ideas, including playing famous New York City-themed shows like “Friends” or “Sex and the City” on slower nights, or serving drink specials like Carrie’s Cosmopolitan, fashioned after “Sex and the City” protagonist and fictional columnist, Carrie Bradshaw.
Metro bar, which will hold about 30 people at a time, won’t serve food, but customers are welcome to bring their own snacks. However, Henderson said she’s considered having food pop-up events that reflect the distinct New York neighborhoods and districts such as Italian food for Little Italy Night.
Henderson plans to shake things up to keep her bar entertaining without live entertainment. Most of all, she wants to create an intimate, curated setting in the 600-square-foot space, the sizing of which she believes will “play into a little bit of an element of exclusivity.”
Inside, Henderson said Metro’s walls will be pink with a newspaper stand for a publication like The New York Post or The New York Times housed within. With her background in design and writing, Henderson hopes to have custom newspapers printed for the bar’s opening and then for future events.
“My goal was to create a space that was very different from anything that’s currently in Bowling Green, but at the same time, something that’s really complementary to what’s already here,” she said. “Downtown, there’s a really strong camaraderie with people that work in bars and own bars. There’s a lot of importance that is on keeping people safe.”
Henderson said it isn’t part of her advertising strategy to differentiate Metro from other places, but if someone is searching for a distinction, it’s the bar’s homage to New York, a place she felt was “just like fantasy land” and desired to experience as a young girl as others similarly adore Disney World.
“As a child, it was a place in my brain that I always thought of as being like, ‘Wow, I need to go here. I need to experience this place. There are so many things that I haven’t been exposed to; this is a place that I really want to go,’” she said.
Henderson said she couldn’t get enough of New York when she first went at 17 while completing a summer program at Columbia University. Now as an adult, she returns every chance she gets and plans to visit the state after her bar opens to “evolve and generate new ideas.”
Downtown Bowling Green has over 30 spots to eat, drink, shop and mingle within the Fountain Row entertainment district, which is most lively on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, said Telia Butler, the Downtown Development Coordinator for the City of Bowling Green.
Metro will join a host of bar and restaurant themes encompassing the Bowling Green nightlife scene – from upscale dining, bourbon tastings and entertainment at Hickory & Oak to Irish pubs, New Orleans fare and more, Butler said.
Butler, who met Henderson while the future bar owner worked at Alley Pub & Pizza, said Metro’s New York style will appeal to more than college students, who, along with young professionals and an older crowd, populate downtown’s entertainment areas.
“The people in the downtown scene are very familiar with the location — a historic and tiny building can carry a big personality,” Butler said via email. “The Metro bar will be another excellent amenity to that scene, providing another opportunity to meet needs for workforce retention and talent attraction.”
When Butler first learned Henderson was opening a bar, she said she immediately messaged her to congratulate her after watching her growth at local bartending shifts.
“Her customer service skills are spot on, as she always welcomes customers with warm hospitality, which isn’t always easy when you’re bartending and waitressing at the same time,” Butler said. “She’s had a dream of opening her own business for a long time, and I’m proud of her for taking the big step.”
Henderson said she’s received positive feedback from people in her life who are searching for a bar with a similar concept to Metro’s, but she recognizes she “can’t cater to everybody.”
“I hope that for the people that have been looking for a bar like this, that I make it a space that’s enjoyable for them,” she said.
Henderson, who began bartending in December 2020 at Finish Line Sports Bar and Grill before working for locations like Alley Pub & Pizza and Cliffs of Moher Irish Pub, said she takes a page from every business’ book when it comes to bar operations, monitoring customers’ safety and conflict management.
“It’s the job to make a place safe. Anytime that I go out and I see some place where they’re not doing that, I make note of it,” she said. “I say, ‘I want to be able to train people to not do this,’ or if it’s someone that’s in charge, I want to make sure that I’m not doing that as the person that’s leading this establishment.”
Henderson said some people say bartenders’ only job is to pour a drink, when in actuality, bartenders are there to create an experience for people.
“Bartenders are therapists; they’re teachers; they’re making drinks; they’re cleaning bodily fluids up off of the ground; they’re comforting some that’s crying,” she said. “They’re calling someone an Uber because they drank too much before they got there and passed out — even if they didn’t have anything to drink at all.”
Henderson said she doesn’t have jitters thinking of whether people show up to her bar on opening night.
“What I’m nervous about is people showing up on day 100, day 200, day 300, day 365,” she said.
To keep generating local buzz, Henderson said she’s going to continue developing ideas for events, cocktails, specials and ways to keep customers returning.
“A lot of that has to do with making sure that you’re training your bartenders as well to make good drinks, making sure that you’re hiring people that are personable, that will talk to people, that are invested,” she said. “It’s a big push on being able to make those connections with people, too.”
Visitors looking for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are welcome at the new location, as Henderson will offer local bourbon, India Pale Ale beers, a rotating White Squirrel Tap, mocktails and more. Metro bar’s flavor profile will lean into the five major spirits — vodka, whiskey, gin, rum and tequila — when it comes to its five borough-inspired cocktails.
Staci Henderson poses for portraits on Monday, Jan. 29 at the planned location for her New York-themed bar, Metro, at 1044 State Street in downtown Bowling Green. Henderson, a bartender, says she plans for the space to feel small and intimate with a menu focused around craft cocktails.
Henderson, a self-described fan of floral drinks, described the Bronx Botanical Garden drink with flavors of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, freshly-squeezed lemon juice and other notes, as an example of other cocktails.
Metro bar came to life through a combination of dreams and ideas and support, Henderson said. Among those supporters is local bartender Maria Stuart, who met Henderson while working at Cliffs of Moher Irish Pub.
Stuart, who was unavailable for an in-person interview, said via text she was “elated” when Henderson shared the concept of Metro bar with her.
“I thought it was a rad idea, and I knew that if anyone was going to make it happen, it would be Staci,” Stuart said. “Staci is big-hearted, ambitious, confident and affable. She approaches everything she does with such tenacity that it’s enough to make you want to be better.”
Henderson hopes to see her supporters on opening night.
“My biggest hope is that during the openings, I’m hoping that I get to see all of the people who have been so supportive to me having a really good time and just enjoying the space, enjoying each other,” she said.
Located at 1044 State St., Metro’s anticipated hours are Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. following its opening in April.