To walk into the new Jimmy T\u2019s bar on 104th, it is nearly impossible to believe some of the stories about the location and the bar that were there before.<\/p>\n
According to new co-owner Jim English (who bought and restored the East Hill bar with co-owner Terry Stewart), even delivery people who have been bringing beer to the place for as many as 15 years can\u2019t help but comment on the change.<\/p>\n
English begins to laugh as he tells a story about a Budweiser representative who has delivered to the bar for more than a decade pointing to the natural light streaming through the front of the bar and asking him \u201cDid you guys put windows in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how dark and dingy the place was,\u201d English says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to believe walking in today, but English and Stewart have taken pains to try to literally wash away the prior image of the location, which was home to a bar called \u201cMoonraker\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hand-scrubbed all the walls, all the trim, the chairs, everything,\u201d English said, adding that cleaning the kitchen alone took six weekends.<\/p>\n
According to English, the previous bar had developed a reputation of violence and drugs, something the new owners hope locals will forget with the change in ownership and appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we\u2019re trying to transform our name,\u201d English said. \u201cOur plan is to make this a friendly, fun place to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, the new owners have made an estimated $50,000 in renovations.<\/p>\n
English said so far the plan seems to be working. While attracting a small cadre of regulars since opening in early June, English said he often sees \u201cshady characters\u201d see how bright the new Jimmy T\u2019s is and leave, often remarking about how the bar has changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not into the quick dollar; we want to make sure people feel comfortable,\u201d English said.<\/p>\n
Jimmy T\u2019s is the first business owned by English and Stewart, who both worked for a salad-dressing company in the area: Stewart as vice president and English as plant manager. When the company was purchased a few years ago, both English and Stewart found themselves without a job.<\/p>\n
English said he decided to take a year off before going back to work. During that time, he found himself tending bar at an establishment owned by a friend. English said he was a bartender 20 years again and when his friend asked, he decided to give it another go.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what?\u201d he asks. \u201cIt\u2019s a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
After going back to work at another local plant, English began to dream of owning his own bar and working for himself instead of someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to do my own thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
English and Stewart were looking for a bar for about three years when Moonraker\u2019s went up for sale. After seeing the 7,000-square-foot establishment, the pair decided to go for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came in and we said \u2018This place has got huge potential\u2019\u201d he said, joking that he called the bar a \u201csleeping giant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bar\u2019s name is even a combination of the two owners\u2019 names (\u201cWe couldn\u2019t come up with a good name,\u201d English jokes) and English says he plans on being there as much as possible to show people the new owners care.<\/p>\n
Together, the pair set out to turn Jimmy T\u2019s into a friendly local sports bar, with flat screen TVs on every wall, five pool tables, four electronic dartboards, pinball machines, video games and foosball table.<\/p>\n
In the fall, English said the plan is to buy the NFL Sunday ticket and watch games on a giant screen.<\/p>\n
They are also planning to host bands at least once a month, with some profits heading toward local charities. A dart league and pool league are also in the planning stages.<\/p>\n
The kitchen is open, with traditional pub fare and the new bar boasts 20 beers on tap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to make this a destination for people to come,\u201d he said. \u201cNot everyone wants to drive to Seattle for a couple of cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite their changes, however, English said he knows there new bar\u2019s toughest challenge will be overcoming the preconceptions that people have because of the prior ownership and the incidents surrounding the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough struggle to overcome that image,\u201d English said. \u201cWe just want to project an image it\u2019s not the same place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
JIMMY T\u2019S<\/p>\n
Jimmy T\u2019s is located at 23803 104th Ave. It is open every day from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. For more information call 253-520-6456.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To walk into the new Jimmy T\u2019s bar on 104th, it is nearly impossible to believe some of the stories about the location and the bar that were there before. According to new co-owner Jim English (who bought and restored the East Hill bar with co-owner Terry Stewart), even delivery people who have been bringing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":5014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5013"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}