By Camas Frank
It’s hard work opening a bar, any kind for restaurant or business to be sure, but when you’re aiming to be the cornerstone hub for a neglected part of town, there’s pressure to get it done right.
Milestone Tavern Bar and Grill, the 10th such establishment to be opened or owned by Cal Poly alum Bill Hales and his business partners, is almost ready for showtime. They’ve had two tentative opening dates, in February and March, but he’s pretty sure they’re good to go in May.
At the end of April, said Hales, the website – www.milestonetavern.com – was about to have the quick links for front and backhouse applicants replaced with details about their menu, the venue and a little about the place. All of their starting staff was in place and the bartenders, he assured, had already been practicing their signature cock
tails.
The Milestone location occupies approximately 6,000 square feet in what used to be a Bank of America branch in the University Square shopping center near the corner of Santa Rosa Street and Foothill Boulevard. Long the subject of various city-planning visions for redevelopment, the center has been getting a raft of new businesses after building renovations.
A good relationship with the complex’s owner and developer led Hales and his partners in ASH Management to pick it as the spot for their next venture.
“We’re hoping to serve that entire corner of town,” he said, noting that despite the shopping center’s University name, it’s more than students. “That area is underserved. We want it to be family friendly environment, a place the faculty from Cal Poly or the staff at the hospital can come over for lunch.”
In short, although they have 84 beer taps recently installed, he’d like it to be the kind of place that attracts a cross-section of the surrounding neighborhood.
“As we get older we have wanted to move in a more family friendly direction,” he said. “I’m done with college bars. Don’t get me wrong. I still love the ones we have bu
t we want to build the places we like to hang out at ourselves.”
Some of that reassurance might be why plans for the venue veritably sailed through the approval process compared to other developments. Breaking ground a little over six months ago, the planning process was begun after ASH made its most recent SLO acquisition, Criki Tiki. That downtown bar was transformed with more emphasis on food and, like the Milestone Tavern, closes much earlier than the “college bars.”
Milestone’s original plans called for seating for approximately 200 with a patio.
Steak, pasta, burgers, salads and sandwiches, make up the Americana fair that fits the bill for one of the definitions of milestone as a waypoint for travelers.
With Cal Poly nearby, this marking the 10th business for the partners and the literal departure point from the city at Foothill leading to Highway 1, there are plenty of other meanings as well.