Unfinished ‘Toby Keith’s’ Bar Has Shoppers Talking

Update

While it was later than its anticipated opening at the end of March, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill told developers they had planned to open by July 1, said Roadside Development spokesman Jeff Edlestein.

And just like in March, it looks like the restaurant is going to miss that goal. But the eatery still plans to open.

“We’re doing everything we can to help them get the place open,” said Edlestein. “The heavy lifting has been done and the major components are in place, now everything just needs to be set up.”

Edlestein admits the work to open the restaurant has been slow, but does not know why it’s taken so long.

“I’m not the one in there during construction, so I can tell you what is happening there,” he remarked.

The bar and restaurant is the last of the large projects slated to open in at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center. At 20,000 square feet, it’s much larger than a few of the remaining retail spaces still available at the nearly sold-out retail center off Neabsco Mills Road, near Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

In an effort to bring in more business to the center, Stonebridge has begun showing movies on a large jumbo tron fixed above the stores, as well as holding more live musical performances for children.

“With the movies, it’s been phenomenal. We had between 200 and 300 families come out to see them,” said Edlestein.

1:30 p.m. 

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — As several new restaurants continue to open at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, one still remains dark.

Toby Keith’s I love This Bar and Grill, a restaurant, bar, and live music venue with several locations across the country including a location in Newport News, Va., has yet to open for business.

 The restaurant was supposed to open by the end of the March in the second quarter, but the opening was pushed back.

It appears little has been done at the restaurant to move things along, as exposed light fixtures remain hanging from the ceiling, stacks of wood sit in the middle of the floor, and a tube of caulk sit on the unfinished bar surface shaped like a large guitar.

The developers of Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center and the corporate offices for Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill could not be reached for this story prior to press time.

That has left nearby restaurant workers and customers walking along the bustling shopping area to speculate on what it taking so long to open the destination bar, which promises nightly live music.

“We’ve heard all kinds of things, including that it’s not going to open,” said an employee of the nearby restaurant Not Your Average Joes.

Others are more hopeful the eatery is finished and it opens its doors.

“We need it to open. That way we can walk over there after work and have a good time,” said a bartender at a nearby Firebirds restaurant.

Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center has planned some 300 apartments, has 500,000 feet of retail space, is home to several restaurants and a popular Wegmans grocery store, and will be the future home of the Potomac Nationals baseball team.

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