Tom’s Watch Bar is up on its perch and open for business above Orlando’s International Drive.
Interstate 4 travelers may have spied the sign for the sports bar from the Sand Lake Road overpass, calling for customers from the top of the pinkish Hollywood Plaza Garage and just beyond the ribboned digital billboard that advertises Walt Disney World theme parks.
“It was kind of a novel idea to open this on the top floor of a parking garage,” co-founder Tom Ryan said during a tour of the 13,000-square-foot space this week.
That goes with the business’ outlook.
“The brand mantra is all the sports, all the time. The concept is all about creating a sports bar for the next generation of sports enthusiasts, who are much different than the old-school ones,” Ryan said.
“Usually it was very male-dominant. I like to say a lot of pennants, a lot of sticky floors, a lot of $3 beers and a lot of fried food,” he said. “What you’ll find here is just very different.”
What you’ll see (inside)
Lots of screens of various sizes, which Ryan estimated in number as “130-ish.” There are 500 seats on two levels, and the capacity is about 900 people.
There are three bars – a main one, one on the covered patio and a smaller one on the uppermost level.
There’s an area in front of the biggest screen for standing and watch (with a rail for drinks and leaning).
“Believe it or not, a lot of people who come to watch a lot of games don’t want to sit the whole time,” Ryan said. “Stand-up bars and rails are really a modern thing for the next generation.”
The upper level looks down into the open bar area and at screens, of course.
“A lot of people just like to come and people watch. Just standing up here and watching all this energy is kind of fun,” Ryan said.
What you’ll see (outside)
Windows are situated on each side of space, so you’d be able to piece together a panoramic of the Central Florida horizon. There’s Universal Orlando (including the even more nearby Epic Universe construction site, SeaWorld Orlando, Icon Park and the Orlando Eye, then to the west, it’s Walt Disney World.
It’s kind of like looking down from the Eye, only from a lower perspective. You see streets (and traffic) and rooftops (and air-conditioner units). But beyond that, parks and lakes and nature.
To the west, with good timing, folks can see sunsets and Disney World fireworks.
The patio faces the I-Drive side, and there are screens out there, too.
What’s on the menu?
“We have a really interesting combination of great versions of traditional bar food and sports bar food,” Ryan said. “And then we have a lot of things that are kind of redefined with what the next generation is looking for – ahi tuna towers, poke bowls and Asian pot stickers and things that you would never expect to see on a sports bar menu.”
Spotted on the menu: deep-dish nachos (with Abodo chicken or braised short rib), mac and cheese with lobster and shrimp, crispy chicken and cornbread pancake, pork-belly tacos, Asian salmon salad, Jamaican jerk wings, “colossal cheesecake.”
Not to mention craft co*cktails, beer and a wine list. Among the shots listed: white gummy bear, Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, Woodford Reserve vodka.
What controls what we’ll watch?
“It’s pretty high tech. We use algorithms to figure out what should be on the screen in every market,” Ryan said. The schedule is published two weeks in advance.
“The big screens are usually the soundtrack of the restaurant, so whatever’s on the big screens usually is what you hear,” he said. Play-by-play action for secondary screens can be heard via the Tunity app.
“So there are ways to figure out who are the biggest colleges, if you got to make a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ decision on a NCAA Saturday. There are ways to figure out how many University of Georgia people are here? How many University of Michigan people are here? How many Indiana people? There are ways to figure that out to make that decision to show those versus others,” Ryan said.
He said the approach here will be similar to the Las Vegas and Washington D.C. locations, where there are customers from many places.
What else?
• On the upper deck there are two virtual-golf suites with driving contests, play for more than 170 courses plus soccer, baseball, football and carnival games programs. “This is the only thing we take reservations for,” Ryan said.
• The venue hosts televised UFC events without admission fees.
• The Orlando location is the 12th in the country. The concept started in Los Angeles in 2014.
• Clientele is about 55% male, 45% female, Ryan said, and 25-to-35-year-olds are the target demo. “Everybody older than that wants to be that still, so they all show up anyway,” he said.
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com
