Radius reopens with new cocktail bar
- Dev Team
- 27 Nov 2014
After less than 30 days of renovations, Radius, on the corner of Augusta and James South, celebrated their reopening Wednesday night with a new look and feel, targeted at Hamilton’s 30-plus crowd. Some may say it’s pretty soon for a renovation, after all, Radius did only open its doors for the first time two years ago, but its owner Paven Bratch said the demand was starting to outgrow the previous space.
“We would fill up here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and people didn’t want to spill over into the cafe,” said Bratch. So they decided to renovate, turning what was a cafe into a cocktail bar.
Don’t worry, they don’t plan on ditching the espresso bar all together, but intend to build a small fold up one into the front foyer area.
Bratch says the catalyst for renovating into this type of atmosphere is to better serve their primary clientele.
“There’s really no place for the plus-30 set to go to [for] special events, parties, so we made some changes,” Bratch said with all respect to his friends and neighbouring establishments on Augusta Street. “We all have a different following, but that’s the great thing about Hamilton… Everyone’s offering something different and I think people want that.”
At the newly shaped space, customers will find a new private dining room where the upper bar used to be, and new tables and chairs in the lower dining area. As for where the cafe used to be, they’ve remodelled the bar for cocktails, and filled the room with classy bar stool seating. Also, on the back patio they have installed heaters to encourage people to sit outside, hopefully, all year round.
Radius is licensed for 140 people in the building and 180 seats on the patio, making them one of the largest venues in the area for special events.
When Radius first opened in 2012, it was praised for having preserved so much of the original architecture and design of the building, and after this remodel, they have stayed true to that.
The building that Radius occupies was built circa 1874, and was the home of Isaac Buchanan (1810-1883), a famous Hamiltonian known for establishing the railroad to Hamilton, founding the Hamilton Club, and founding the Hamilton and Toronto Chamber of Commerce. Buchanan lived and died in the home.
One last thing: a cocktail bar wouldn’t be complete without oysters, and Radius plans on serving them for 99 cents until 9:00 p.m. during the week.
“Today’s a great day. A lot of new restaurants opening up and a lot of new things going on—-Ambitious Realty [is opening today], and we’re thrilled to have them as neighbours, and I think it’s just another great day in Hamilton’s resurgence,” said Bratch.
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