Tomorrow’s Bar holds ribbon-cutting

Ricky Hinote, owner of Tomorrow’s Bar, is a military veteran who said he was looking for an opportunity to buy commercial property after he retired from the military in February. He said he noticed Fat Toad Billiards, which used to sit on Sixth Street and is permanently closed and thought that it would be cool to open a bar in the area. When he visited the building on South Washington, he said he liked the location and thought it was the perfect place.

Hinote and his girlfriend, Amelia Carey, got to work creating a business plan, applying for a loan, closing the sale of the building and sprucing the place up in preparation of opening. He said with some help from his two boys, Logan, 8, and Noah, 10, and other family members, he and Carey painted the outside of the bar and placed decorations and furniture.

“We’ve been in here every single day since we closed, and we’ve been putting in 18-hour days, and we did all the work ourselves,” he said. “I did get some help from friends and family along the way.”

Hinote, who is a guitar player, donated his music equipment to the bar for the live music and karaoke nights. He said he hopes to bring all different acts back to Junction City and showcase local musicians.

Live music will be at the bar every Saturday, Open Mic Night is every Wednesday and karaoke is every other Friday, he said. He said he hopes to attract local talent to showcase their abilities at Open Mic nights, including comedy and unique acts like juggling.

Hinote said he wants Tomorrow’s Bar to be the community’s location to mingle and have fun, but he also wants it to be a place where the wellbeing of the community people is first and foremost.

“My bar is Junction’s bar,” he said. “We want to take care of the people who live here; this is their place.”