The Volstead touting burgers and really cold beer

The owners of The Volstead, a new downtown Athens restaurant and bar scheduled to open soon, want to create a casual eating experience with an upscale feel, said Brian Holloway.

“It won’t be true fine-dining, but will have an almost fine-dining atmosphere, “ Holloway said. “It will be full-service with a wait staff.”

“We want it to be a good restaurant and a great bar with unique food,” said Holloway’s Chris Holloway, the managing partner of the business.

The Volstead should be opening on East Clayton Street in the former Frameworks space within the next week, and the owners — Brian, Chris, Chris’s brother and Brian’s uncle, Craig Holloway, and investor Randy Need — have been trying to recapture and highlight some of the historic aspects of the building, which was built in the 1870s or 1880s, Chris said.

The space features the tall, thin wooden columns throughout the building’s space, some exposed brick and the pressed tin ceiling, and the owners have added some old-fashioned-looking fixtures, all designed to evoke a feel of the 1920s, the era of prohibition. Somewhat ironically, the Holloways named the restaurant and bar for Andrew Volstead, the Republican congressman who authored the federal act calling for enforcement of national prohibition beginning in 1920.

The Volstead’s menu will focus on appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and salads, but the Holloways have hired Chef David Perez, who taught at Cordon Bleu, to spice up the fare.

Among its copious choice of starters are fried pickles, deep fried chicken wings, spicy fried green beans, onion rings, edamame, spicy corn fritters, chicken fingers and two types of fries — regular and sweet potato — with all types of toppings. Hog wings represent the most unique appetizer offering on the starter menu. A hog wing is deep-fried pork on a bone with barbecue dipping sauce, similar to barbecued chicken wings.

“It’s part of a pork rib and it’s cut down to look like a chicken drumstick, but it’s pork,” Chris said.

The menu offers five salads, two variations of mesclun (assorted small young salad leaves such as spinach, arugula and frisée) a Buffalo chicken salad, Caesar and a chicken mix salad with a choice of grilled, blackened or fried chicken.

The burgers all will be hand-made to order, and many will have special ingredients normally used as toppings mixed into the meat, Chris said.

The El Toro burger, for example will have the beef mixed with Mexican Chorizos and pico de gallo, while the grido burger’s meat will include fish basil pesto. Guinness stout will enhance the ground beef of the Guinness burger. The Holloways describe their burgers as specialty or gourmet burgers without the gourmet burger price. Other options include a breakfast burger, turkey burger and black bean burger.

Among the sandwiches are some standards such as a Cuban, three-cheese grilled cheese and a chicken sandwich, but The Volstead kitchen also will prepare a blackened grouper filet sandwich, a fish taco, brat wurst with jalapeno lemon cole slaw, a hot dog and a scramble dog.

Chris likened the scramble dog to an open-faced pot pie or hot dog pizza. The cooks cut up a hot dog and mix it with chili, cheese, onions or other toppings and serve it on top of an open-faced toasted bun. Food prices run around $6 to $8 for most items.

The Volstead will have tables and chairs, seating at the bar and a bench along the wall where tables can be arranged. A patio will provide an outside seating space as well. There will be tablecloths and metal tableware, but the food will be served in some type of food basket.

The Volstead’s bar will be one of only two places in the Southeast with an ice rail that will run the length of the bar. Built into the center of the bar surface, the ice rail will keep drinks cold. The cooling system The Volstead uses also keeps its draft beer coming out at 32 degrees, and a special icing system for liquor like rum, tequila and vodka will keep the beverages so cold they won’t need ice in the drinks, Chris said.

Sports fan who visit The Volstead will find several flat-screen TVs throughout the restaurant and bar, and a big projection screen will be used for Sunday football.

The business will employ about 25 to 30 people.