At 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, Becky and Lee Bland were informed that their paperwork had processed, and they could open their first bar. Two and one half hours later, Paddy Wagon Irish Pub was open for business.
“It was nail-biting,” Becky Bland said. “We wanted to open up the week before, but it didn’t work out.”
Although the Blands started the bar with little fanfare — mostly advertising through Facebook posts and word of mouth — Becky says the past weeks have seen good business.
EXPANDING THE BRAND
Paddy Wagon is a Florida-based franchise, which one could call a “sister bar” to Linksters Tap Room. Anyone who’s gone out for a few drinks in Tampa, Lakeland, Winter Haven, Bradenton, Davenport, Port Charlotte or Sarasota has likely seen or entered one of these bars.
The Paddy Wagon franchise has been expanding quickly as of late, with Plant City being the newest location. Winter Haven’s pub opened on Cypress Gardens Boulevard just a few months ago.
According to Bland, there was already an interest in opening one of the bars in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World before she and her husband even got here.
“We live in Lakeland, but there’s nothing like this in Plant City,” she said. “So, we wanted to branch out this way.”
FIRST-TIMERS
This is the Blands’ first time owning a bar, but not their first experience with the franchise.
Becky worked at the Linksters on U.S. Highway 98 North for two and one half years before getting the itch to own her own bar. She and Lee, a manager at the Northern Star Generation plant in Bartow, had enough money saved in the bank to make it happen, and they opted to go with the luck of the Irish.
“Paddy Wagon has more beer,” Bland says. “And, the Irish pub, St. Paddy’s Day, it’s a fun theme. Linksters has more of a golf theme.”
THE RUNDOWN
The pub occupies two units in the Strawberry Plaza, formerly home to a martial arts school and Hookah King II, which has moved to the other side of Staples.
Paddy Wagon doesn’t serve food — unless someone’s hungry for peanuts — but the pub does have 20 beers on tap. In addition to all of the domestic favorites and Guinness, one can order Keel and Curley’s 7-Mile Bridge IPA and Cigar City’s Florida Cracker Ale and Jai Alai IPA.
On Oct. 30, Bland added two TVs to the outdoor patio area, which will also see plenty of use in corn hole tournaments. She said that she also hopes to start darts and pool leagues fairly soon.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
IF YOU GO
WHERE: 1852 James L. Redman Pkwy.
HOURS: 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Mon.-Sat.), 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Sunday)
SPECIALS: Happy Hour from 12 to 7 p.m.; Customers can use their cell phones to text a special code and receive a BOGO drink special. See Paddy Wagon’s Facebook page or outdoor sign for more details.
WEBSITE: Facebook.com/Paddywagon8
