New burger, bourbon bar open Downtown

The latest concept from the FAB Dining group (De-Novo, Manifesto), a burgers, steak and bourbon concept called Olivers, opens today Downtown.

Burgers will be made with ground short rib, with an emphasis on local products, says owner Yavonne Sarber. "[Short rib] makes the tastiest burger. It makes it real buttery and yummy," she says.

The menu features eight house burgers (like The Downtown Jucy Lucy, a third of a pound patty stuffed with cheddar and gruyere with caramelized onions and chipotle aioli, and the Beefy Chorizo, a short rib and chorizo patty with fried egg, manchego cheese, pico de gallo and smoke avocado aioli). There's also a lengthy selection of starters, sandwiches, salads, entrees and meatless options. The tone is a mash-up of bar food classics and Southern and South-of-the-Border flavors.

There will be 50 bourbons behind the bar, plus 10 house-infused, barrel-aged bourbons. To start, Olivers will feature bourbons infused with mint, anise, honey and cayenne with thyme, walnut and tobacco, bacon, espresso, chocolate, fig and vanilla, almond and clove, among others. There will be 12 beers on draft to start, but that number will up to 20 soon, Sarber says.

"It's really just an homage to the original architecture of the building," Sarber says. "It's down to the original brick with 17-foot ceilings. It's just really industrial, urban." The odd patterns on the brick walls were caused by fire damage in 1969. Three layers of drop ceilings were removed. The name is a throwback to the go-go bar located in the space in the '60s that was also called Olivers.

The open, 36-square-foot full-service restaurant seats 110 diners inside and 30 guests outside. Though the address is technically 26 N. High St., the entrance to Olivers is on Lynn Alley. They'll be open for lunch at 10:30 a.m., and will be serving lunch and dinner daily and will stay open until 1 a.m.