The wait is over, Steel & Wire Cocktail Lounge will be opening on Millbury Street this weekend.
Owners Frank and Mara Inangelo said Monday that they will be open for business at 4 p.m. on Friday with live music from the local blues band Night Train starting at 9 p.m.
The couple announced they would be taking over the bar which used to house Worcester favorite Nick’s back in March, but closed the location for a couple of months in order to transfer ownership, get the necessary licenses and do a little redecorating.
Fans of Nick’s will notice some changes, with the red curtains and taxidermy no where to be found, but Mara said there’s a lot that is still the same.
The walls and ceilings remain the same, and the bar hasn’t changed other than being refinished.
“We really wanted to bring out the existing architecture of the space,” Mara said when explaining their design choices.
New artwork on the walls pays homage to Worcester’s history and Frank’s own family history.
Chip Simone, Frank’s uncle, is a street photographer who took photos of the Shrewsbury Street neighborhood during the 1970s. Those photos now hang on the walls of Steel & Wire.
Other photographs hanging around the bar were taken by Stephen DiRado during the 1980s in the old Worcester Galleria Mall.
“We wanted to have the artwork speak to the Worcester kind of grittiness, that industrial history, so we knew we wanted to use their work and they were kind enough to oblige us,” Mara said.
The couple spruced up the outdoor patio by painting the fence in different bright colors, getting new patio furniture and hanging strings of lights.
For the stage, Frank put a mural of speakers on the back wall and brought his own drum kit from home, newly branded with Steel & Wire’s logo.
The stage will have live music every Friday and Saturday to start, according to Frank, and they’ll be looking to expand to other nights of the week too.
This Saturday James Keyes will be performing rock and folk-style music, according to Mara, and Sunday the L-Jays are performing.
Sundays will also feature Molly Sullivan’s Famous Bloody Mary Bar, which Nick’s used to offer. The toppings change, but in the past the cocktail has been toped with a variety of peppers, tomatoes, meats and exotic garnishes, according to a Facebook post about a past event.
Patrons will also have the chance to share their talents at karaoke on Thursday nights.
The bar will offer bar snacks, including sweet and spicy bar nuts seasoned with maple syrup and Old Bay seasoning, along with other spices; a homemade hummus and veggie plate; a charcuterie board and a Bavarian pretzel.
Steel & Wire will also offer a seasonal cocktail menu with featured drinks like the Shoemaker- Irish whiskey, sherry and orange bitters garnished with raspberries, mint and an orange twist; the Bourbon Smash- bourbon, Cointreau, peach and lemon; and The Rite of Spring- a white Negroni.
Other than the featured cocktails, Mara said they’ll have a variety of spirits available along with fresh juices for mixers.
“I think they just really make the drinks taste that much better,” Mara said of the choice to use fresh juice.
There will also be non-alcoholic drinks available, like a zero ABV margarita and non-alcoholic beer.
Friday night’s opening will also feature something some in Worcester would call historic, Frank and bartender Chip O’Connor working behind the bar at the same time.
“People I think are excited about Frank and Chip working together,” Mara said. The two worked together at Vincent’s, a bar owned by the same couple , Nicole Watson and Vincent Hemmeter, who sold Nick’s to the Inangelos.
Hemmeter has been coming into Steel & Wire a few times a week checking in and helping out, Mara said.
“I think overall he’s thought this is neat...just a different take on the same space,” Mara said.
Mara said she’s excited to see it all coming together, especially after a few times questioning if they were going to pull it off in the last few weeks.
The couple has faced supply chain issues that created delays in furniture deliveries and even caused them to have to put up a temporary sign.
“We have a permanent one coming but you know it has to go through a whole permitting process and there’s a shortage of materials right now,” Mara said.
They also had to update the business to align with current business and fire codes.
In the last week, everything started to come together, with deliveries finally arriving. Mara said it made her feel like it was going to happen.
“We’ve worked really hard, we said we were going to open in May and we wanted to make sure we hit that benchmark,” Mara said, and between Frank working 12 to 14 hour days and help from family and friends they were able to.
The bar will be open Tuesday-Thursday from 4 p.m. to midnight, Friday-Saturday 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed Mondays.
“Steel & Wire is going to be a lot of fun,” Mara said in a press statement announcing the opening, “My goal is to bring together the comfort and approachability of a neighborhood bar with the type of creative cocktails you typically can only find at higher end restaurants in the area.”
Related Content:
- Steel & Wire Cocktail Lounge to open in the next few weeks in Worcester at former Nick’s location
- ‘The bones are still going to be there’: New owners of Nick’s won’t make drastic changes to favorite Worcester bar
- Nick’s in Worcester sold to longtime employee and his wife, set to close in April; will reopen as cocktail bar Steel & Wire
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