Matt Flynn, co-owner of Stillwater Tap Room on Broad Street, hopes the new venture has the feeling of an old favorite.

The bar, which Mr. Flynn opened earlier in June with associate Sonya Sessions and his Nacho Mama's and Blue Sky Kitchen partner, Barry Blackston, is filled with Old World touches, conscious nods toward an earlier Augusta. The walls and floors are gleaming varnished hardwood, a pair of porch-ready rockers sit in the establishment's front window and the walls are adorned with photographs of old Augusta.

"It just seems like common sense," Mr. Flynn said. "It just seems like there should have been something like this here all along.

"What we're hoping is that in 10 years or so this place will look like it has been here for 40 or 50 years - a bar that has been here for generations," Mr. Flynn said. "And then, of course, we hope that it will become a bar that is here for generations."

Part of the Stillwater plans include incorporating live music - bluegrass and Americana mostly - establishing themselves in a previously unexplored niche.

"That helped," Mr. Flynn said about the plans. "It made us feel pretty confident about what we were doing."

After establishing themselves in the restaurant world, Mr. Flynn and Mr. Blackston felt the time and location were right to expand their business holdings. Stillwater stands next door to their original venture, Nacho Mama's, and a few doors down from Blue Sky.

"It's like the old adage says - location, location, location," Mr. Flynn said. "A long time ago we talked about opening a Nacho Mama's in Charleston or somewhere like that.

But I can't imagine having to drive four hours to get to my other store. It's much better walking four buildings down."

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GOING OUT

The Place: Stillwater Tap Room, 974 Broad St. (map)

Hours: 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesday-Friday and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday

Phone: 826-9857

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