Anticipated HUB on Main now open as Hamilton’s Urban Backyard

In recent weeks, artificial turf was been laid down in the beer-garden style outdoor area, which is covered and enclosed during the winter. The HUB in its name stands for “Hamilton’s Urban Backyard.”

Aside from Dave Ernst, other owners are his wife Emily Ernst, and Jeff and Gina Bucalo, and they were motivated to create the bar in what was a run-down building by the opening later this year of the immense indoor sports complex called Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, in the former Champion Paper facility on North B Street.

HUB will be a family-friendly place where friends and teams can gather, play outdoor games such as cornhole and have fun around fire pits.

Two weeks ago, another highly anticipated bar and gourmet burger restaurant, Billy Yanks, opened, also along Hamilton’s burgeoning Main Street business corridor.

A number of bars have recently opened or been announced in the city. They include Pour House, which announced plans to open in January at The Marcum downtown; Billy Yanks; and Pinball Garage. Another microbrewery, Amp House Brewing, plans to open on Maple Avenue near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Also planned is an indoor/outdoor bar/restaurant/reception-hall facility called Hamilton Landing, which is to be on Pyramid Hill Boulevard, in the former Knights of Columbus hall.

The Pour House is a new concept for a drinking place. It will not have waitstaff. Instead, customers will pour their own beers, wines and seltzers from at least 40 taps — beers to be determined — and can avoid the “awkwardness of tipping,” one of the owners said.