Pinnacle Bank Arena hoisted its last beam into place in December and the rest of the Historic Haymarket is in the midst of a makeover.
One of the newest businesses to join the Haymarket fever is a bar,The Cask – Fermentations & Cocktails. Downtown Lincoln Association sat down with Mike Figueroa, The Cask co-owner, to discuss the unique nightspot located in the heart of the historic area at 728 Q Street, above the N Zone.
Tell me a little bit about how the bar started?
With the development of this whole Haymarket area and the arena, my partners and I down at the N Zone, wanted to do something different. The N Zone has been around for 18 years and is a great Husker tradition if you are in the mood for beers, wings, loud atmosphere and sports but we wanted to have something a little nicer and more focused of boutique wines, craft beer and creative cocktails catered to a more mature crowd, a date night or a business crowd for happy hour.
How would you describe the ambiance and atmosphere?
We really wanted a small, intimate atmosphere with a lot of interaction between staff and the customers. [Our] focus is good service. When we designed this, we didn’t want to take away from the characteristics of the old historic Haymarket building at the Lincoln Hide & Fur building so that is why we played a lot on the building’s [original] exposed bricks and the old freight elevator.
What are some of the must-get items you offer? Any particular cocktail that has been extremely popular?
We do a twist on some of the classics. Our version of the Old Fashion is a little bit different, the pomegranate cosmopolitan. We do a margarita that has a blood orange liquer in it that is really popular. It’s just taking some of the traditional drinks and giving our own spin on them.
We saw your Facebook page that you feature live music occasionally. What days?
Friday and Saturday we like to have live music, usually a one-person band. We were just doing Fridays to get our feet wet but starting now on Saturdays as well [due to popularity].
Will The Cask offer any theme nights or discount nights?
Monday night is martini night. Tuesday is going to be geared toward education—whether it’s going to be a bourbon tasting or a wine tasting. Wednesday nights will be wine night with specials on bottles of wine. Thursday nights will be beer and we will do cask tapings which is conditioned cask beer. Our first one [was] on December 13th with Empryean Brewing Company and their vanilla porter with chocolate cherry.
Read more at: downtownlincoln.org/connect/news/view/haymarket-hotspots-introducing-the-cask. For up-to-date information on The Cask, like them on Facebook at The Cask- Fermentations and Cocktails.
Founded in 1967, the Downtown Lincoln Association provides services and champions initiatives for maintaining and enhancing our vibrant downtown. Our vision is to create an energetic downtown environment where we live, learn, work, invest and play. DLA has evolved into a multi-faceted organization supporting a wide range of programs and activities including maintenance, economic development and advocacy.
For a complete listing of downtown businesses, events and residences visit: downtownlincoln.org. ‘Like’ us on Facebook at facebook.com/downtownlincoln.