Johnny Nolan is in the middle of a 25-year plan to takeover the Colorado Springs bar-and-grill scene. Of course, the famously friendly host doesn’t put it that way. (He did not return calls from the Report.) But just look at the man’s rise.
From his beginning bartending gig at Bennigan’s in 1991, to his following 10-year bartending gig at the Ritz Grill, Nolan has spun success from everything he touches. The opening of Southside Johnny’s followed in 2002 and then Johnny’s Navajo Hogan in 2011.
Now comes N3 Tap House, a new venture in the old number-three firehouse, the one that also used to hold Firehouse Southern Style BBQ, on West Colorado Avenue. The inside has been renovated into a modest firefighter theme with exposed walls and open ceilings, Nolan says in an interview with the Gazette.
“We’ll have a couple of TVs, but that’s all,” he told the newspaper, noting 30 beers on tap. “We are concentrating on the food and atmosphere.”
Towards that end, expect New York-style pizza from a new gas-fueled oven, the broasted chicken made famous at his Navajo Hogan, some Korean dishes and, according to the Independent, “a chef (not just dedicated line cooks and kitchen managers), who’ll exert some menu control on a ‘higher-end’ menu segment.”
[Image: Google Street View]
