Old Town club owner trades hip-hop for country music

Four months of Rage convinced Pat Alvarez of one thing: Old Town doesn’t need another club playing hip-hop.

“Saturday nights were great, but we’re all just rotating the same DJs,” Alvarez said of his fellow Old Town club owners.

Alvarez closed Rage, at 235 N. Mosley, after just four months. Now open in its place: Boots & Buckles, a club featuring mainly country music.

“We’re prepared to mix it up some,” Alvarez said.

He thinks even the previous club’s name might have projected the wrong image and led to “aggressive” dancing.

In any case, the plan is for Boots & Buckles to be a different animal.

“I really hope we can be just a good, clean country bar where you can sit and relax and have a good time,” Alvarez said.

Oh, and dance, too. Alvarez plans to have DJs spinning country music on Thursday and Friday nights, with live bands performing on Saturday. He may bring in dance teachers to give pointers in the two-step and line dancing, and at some point add barbecue and other food as well.

Alvarez hopes to make Boots & Buckles as successful as he says the Port of Wichita has been. He bought that bar, a fixture on the east side, last year. It was his first foray into a club, but not the hospitality industry: some years earlier, he owned a restaurant called Tamales in Maize.

A kitchen and flooring contractor by trade, Alvarez said he and his wife, Wendy, enjoy providing a place for entertainment.

“Me and my wife, we come from nothing, and we just want to be part of Wichita,” he said.

Their five children all help in the businesses as well, from bartending to security to the kitchen.

“My kids are workers,” he said.

Alvarez credited landlord and Old Town developer Dave Burke for convincing him to give the Mosley location, which has housed numerous clubs through the years, another try. He points out that there’s not another country bar in the neighborhood.

The 5,000-square-foot space holds holds 336 people. It features a sizable dance floor, big-screen TV, pool tables, booth and table seating and a waterfall behind the bar. Alvarez is planning to bring in “some saddles and other things” to “give it a country feel.”

Alvarez opened his new place May 30. However the public reacts, he said he’ll definitely feel more at home.

“I like country music and salsa,” he said. “I’m too old to hip-hop.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2014 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Old Town club owner trades hip-hop for country music."