Alex Bender had a big vision for a small space. With only about 400
square feet, his recently opened minibar and lounge, The Hawthorn, combines comfort and
class into a neighborhood space that feels intimate and inviting.
“It was just trying to be a local, neighborhood spot,” Bender
said a week after he opened. “A place where people go because it's familiar, it's
comfortable…things are very consistent. We’re not going to rotate all kinds of
things on our menu, we're going to have some very consistent beers, cocktails,
wines.”
The minibar, located off Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., was not always the intended use of the
space. When Bender began renting it in 2019, he initially opened a clothing
shop where customers could order customized apparel including embroidered
screen prints.
“We opened up almost exactly four years ago in November of
2019 and had a good a couple of months before the pandemic. Once that happened,
we kind of transitioned for the rest of 2020. We imported and distributed masks
and PPE and then kind of reconfigured our business model where we focused more
on wholesale corporate apparel.”
For Bender, the
idea of pursuing a studio retail space in 2021 didn’t seem promising and “probably around the end of 2021, we
decided to or started tossing the idea of turning the space into a bar," he said.
Transitioning the space required a “change of use” for the
business through the city as well as building permits that Bender said were
approved in mid-July. Following was a lengthy process of receiving a certificate
of occupancy, business location approval, a business license, and a liquor license.
“It’s one of those situations where I'm glad I didn't know
how difficult it would be ahead of time because I probably wouldn't have done
it. But I'm glad I did it because I’m happy with it now,” Bender said. “It's
the same process for a 400 square foot minibar that's locally owned as it is
for the massive corporate entity. Obviously, their architecture and engineering
is going to be way more involved, but it's still the same process. My alcohol
license cost the same as the one at Plant Riverside.”
On Friday, Dec. 15, The Hawthorn opened its door to the
public for the first time. Inside, customers found green and tan walls, gold
arches, and an “old school European” vibe where Bender wanted to embrace as
much history as possible.
Wainscoting from an old textile mill in North Carolina lines
a portion of the wall with visible machine marks, gouges, and oil stains while an
old roof pine beam from Re:Purpose Savannah was used to make a table top for a
few more barstools. Tops of church pews from a church in Charleston as well as altar
pieces from St. Joseph’s in Athens was used to create the bar.
About a year ago, Bender found stained glass windows on Facebook Marketplace and took them to an artist in Garden City who, with his son, completely disassembled them, cleaned, and rebuilt them. Bender dates the windows back to somewhere between 1850 and 1890. A bar piano, an antique wooden phone booth and a shadow box displaying a Knights Templar parade outfit from the 1900s also decorate the space.
“It's one of those things where you kind of hear the stories
or you see the buildings, but to me, reusing all these things and having them
in here is kind of that tangible history. It's like a time machine,” Bender
said, who wants the space to feel familiar. “It's not pretentious at all. It's
trying to be the opposite of that. But still very, very much a nicer spot.”
Bender, who
bartended for 12 years prior including a stint at 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant,
noted his reasonably priced drinks and a popular introductory special called
the Hawthorn Handshake—a shot of Shanky’s Whip Irish Whiskey liqueur and a pony
of Miller High Life. Other menu highlights include a variety of local Georgia
beers, hard ciders, wine and a handful of cocktails. “It's not a menu that you look at and it’s overwhelming. We're
going to have between six and eight cocktails, maybe one or two that rotate. Everything
else will be the same.”
The Hawthorn,
small in size, has big intentions to welcome Savannah’s locals.
“I think everything, every aspect of this place has been very
carefully curated to be like that—to be the nicer, comfortable, enjoyable thing
that's not pretentious, it's not inaccessible. It's very much open to everybody
[and] has that kind of instant, welcoming feel to it.”
The Hawthorn Minibar and Lounge is located at 524 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and is open from 3:30pm to 11:30pm Monday through Saturday.
