Onwards and upwards for the Pontotoc Lounge.
Literally.
The second floor dining area of the cocktail lounge at 314 South Main is slated to open March 17th, says owner Daniel Masters.
The new space is “an extension of Pontotoc,” he says. “We opened the stairway. So, when you walk in you can access it from downstairs.”
The upstairs area features tables and booths, and will feature the same menu as Pontotoc’s downstairs section. “So the seating will be comfortable for eating. We’ll have a nice, diverse amount of small plates to choose from.”
Pontotoc is “a creative cocktail lounge. We focus our kitchen on smaller plates to share.”
Describing the upstairs space, Masters says it’s “an intimate setting.” The concept features “more of an antique nature museum feel to it. We’ve put in a lot of small fun little touches. Art work, books.”
And, he says, “all nature based. And in the bathroom, there’s a TV playing old nature documentaries from the ‘70s.”
The “fun touches” include a lot of artwork featuring birds and two different nature murals.
Items upstairs are “things that I’ve gotten at at antique shops and on Etsy,” Masters says.
“The carpenters built custom booths. The color scheme is pretty diverse. It moves around.”
The building housing the Pontotoc Lounge was built in 1933. “It’s two floors with a basement. The upstairs dining area is approximately 1,700 square feet and can seat up to 40 guests.”
Masters doesn’t want to give too much away about the new upstairs space. “I want to leave a lot to the experience. I don’t want to put too much ahead of it so people are somewhat surprised. I want them to go in with a blank canvas, in a way.”
