Sports Bar Opens in Reynold’s Mountain - TribPapers
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Sports Bar Opens in Reynold’s Mountain

Owner George Pfeiffer stands behind the bar at the new Village Porch in Reynolds Village in Woodfin.

Woodfin – The Village Porch is the newest sports bar in North Asheville, boasting 13 televisions broadcasting your favorite sports games and 23 different taps with local brews. Founder George Pfeiffer opened the bar & restaurant on Feb. 19 in the former location of Thirsty Monk in Reynolds Mountain. Pfeiffer has long admired the neighborhood; the closure of the Thirsty Monk provided an “unbelievable opportunity” to open his first restaurant.

“I’ve never owned a restaurant or bar, but this was a great place and opportunity. We’ve only been open a month but we have probably had 15 nights where we had to turn away people because of COVID capacity,” Pfeiffer says.

Pfeiffer admires the “live, work play” environment in Reynolds Mountain and hopes to fulfil the need of a neighborhood sports bar.

“If you love sports, there’s really nothing north of downtown [Asheville] that offers this kind of environment,” Pfeiffer says. “People are craving an environment where everybody knows your name and there’s a lot of love going around. We absolutely believe in that. You walk in and there’s a lot of smiling faces.”

But The Village Porch is more than a sports bar. The restaurant plans to have live music every Friday night.

The food is both experimental and classic bar food. Menu items include staples like wings, sandwiches, salads, philly cheese steaks and the specialty ‘Smash Burger.’ Other appetizers are fried pickles and the ‘Bang Bang Cauliflower’. New specialty cocktails are available each night as well as weekly specialty entrees concocted by The Village Porch’s chefs.

It’s pretty risky to open a restaurant or bar during the pandemic, Pfeiffer acknowledges. But his gamble has certainly paid off, with patrons flocking to The Village Porch.

“I’m a gambler to a degree and rolled the dice. And the bottom line is we’re in our fifth week of being open and we’ve got more revenue coming in than going out,” Pfeiffer says.

A large garage door on the side of the bar ensures that customers can elect to sit outdoors or indoors. Even Woodfin Mayor Jerry VeHaun stops by frequently for a bite, Pfeiffer says.

The Village Porch team has been working on remodeling the space since June to transform it into the perfect spot. On opening day in late Feb, about 175 people stopped by to celebrate. The Village Porch is open for lunch and dinner daily, from 11 am to 11 pm. If there’s a sports game playing later in the evening, they stay open until the end of the game. The Village Porch is located at 51 North Merrimon Ave, Suite 113.

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