The Casual Pint, a Tennessee-based chain of craft beer bar-and-market hybrids, will open its first Arizona location next month on the southwest corner of Alma School and Queen Creek in south Chandler.
The store will have 30 craft beers on tap, and sell more than 300 others by the can or bottle to go.
“I’ve been wanting to do my own thing for some time,’’ says owner Chad Eby, a home brewer since 1995. ‘‘It’s kinda my retirement plan.â€
The Illinois native, who’s in the home-building industry, and his wife, Amy, an Arizona native who’s in the healthcare industry, met in 2000 at, appropriately, a Dallas microbrewery.
“I went up to the bar because there was this cute girl, and she’s getting a dark stout,’’ Chad recalls. ‘‘And I said, ‘Hey, is that for you or your friend?’ And she said, ‘It’s for me.’ And I went, ‘Done!’’’
Amy laughs, “We were engaged three-and-a-half months later, and then married a year-and-a-half later.â€
The couple, who have two children, moved from Texas to Ahwatukee in 2004, and then to Chandler’s Clemente Ranch (across the street from The Casual Pint’s location) in 2008.
What you’ll find at The Casual Pint
After researching several beer-related businesses, the Ebys zeroed in on The Casual Pint, a concept that launched in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2011 and began franchising in 2013.
‘‘I liked the idea of the simple business model,’’ Chad says ‘‘I liked the fact of getting in on the beginning.â€
At just over 2,100 square feet, The Casual Pint will have a 12-seat bar (pictured under construction last week), a mix of two- and four-person tables, a 10-person community table, a lounge area, and a patio.
The interior is decorated in what Chad calls ‘‘an English pub-style feel’’ with dark wood furniture, dark beadboard, and stained concrete floors.
The retail area will feature two open-face coolers with single bottles, as well as two large shelving units stocked with beers. Shoppers are encouraged to create their own mixed six-packs.
The food menu from a small kitchen is still being fine-tuned, but look for finger foods like flatbread pizzas, wraps, wings, pretzels, brats, and pork sliders.
When will The Casual Pint open?
The Ebys signed their lease in November and hoped to open in March, but the process of getting their use permit from the city dragged out until late June.
Now construction is going full speed. Although the space is little more than drywall and bare concrete right now, the Ebys expect it to be finished in less than two weeks.
(Pictured above is another Casual Pint in Knoxville, just to give you an idea what it will look like.)
The Ebys have set a tentative opening date of Aug. 19. They’re planning hours of 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday, and 1-8 p.m. Sunday.
“We kinda just see this as we’ve been so successful in our life together,’’ Amy Eby says. ‘‘And craft beer is what brought us together.
‘‘Now that we’ve been married for 15 years, let’s bring it to a new level. Let’s share our love for craft beer with our community and our friends.â€
