Paddy’s on Main owner Chris Estano responded Tuesday to accusations from the owner of neighboring Bourbon Haus 1841 that Estano “terrorized” the bar that shares the common wall of a building in MainStrasse.
The bars have a history of disagreements, and the owners of Bourbon House are in ongoing litigation with the building’s owner.
That escalated Sunday when Bourbon Haus owner Dave Brumfield shared a lengthy post on Facebook, calling out several people, including Estano, for contributing to their decision to “remain closed and focus on the broader lawsuit.”
Estano said the accusations are completely false. He said wanted to take the high road and let it pass, but felt he needed to defend himself.
“You’re going to find out that the things they’ve said in that post are blatant lies,” Estano told LINK nky.
The official announcement of Bourbon Haus’s closure comes six years after the bar opened in MainStrasse.
Bourbon Haus was a featured bar on the B-Line, Northern Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, and was one of America’s Best Bourbon Bars by Bourbon Magazine for six consecutive years.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we share the news that Bourbon Haus will permanently close,” said Brumfield’s post. “We have operated successfully for the past 6 years due to your loyalty and patronage! Unfortunately, we were forced to close due to a series of malicious occurrences.”
The post accused Paddy’s owner Chris Estano of “terrorizing” their business, employees and customers.
“We had operated peacefully in the community for the five prior years, but this guy (Estano) insisted on putting us out of business from the day he showed up—he terrorized us, our employees, and customers. The laundry list of unethical behavior is too lengthy to get into,” said Brumfield’s post.
On Nov. 30, the city of Covington did not renew Bourbon Haus’ liquor license due to an ongoing lawsuit between Bourbon Haus and their landlord, Kim Wolf.
Bourbon Haus announced they would be closing on Dec. 2.
In March, a noise dispute between Bourbon Haus and Paddy’s owners played out during the public comments period of a Covington City Commission meeting. Bourbon Haus co-owner Tammy Brumfield accused Paddy’s of hosting a live music performance in which they felt the music was too loud.
Paddy’s general manager Brooklyn Koebke, a former employee of Bourbon Haus, said Bourbon Haus had also hosted live music events on their patio and reiterated that Paddy’s was committed to being mindful of Covington’s noise ordinances.
Covington Mayor Joe Meyer called the situation “ridiculous” and said that bringing the dispute before the commission was “wasting the time of everyone here with this situation that quite frankly, isn’t resolvable by us.”