It takes mere seconds to realize that the new business moving into the 5,000-square-foot space that once housed Outfitters Steaks and Seafood in Locust will be a unique location as a giant spray-painted image of a vicious Viking in battle. It only takes -axe greets visitors along the side of the building at 805 W. Main St.
I hope you’re hungry and thirsty, but people shouldn’t be intimate. That’s because the business, Buzzed Viking Brewing Company, offers a wide variety of beers and dishes made with mead, an ancient alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey and mixing it with water.
Buzzed Viking, which launched its first store in Concord in the summer of 2020, plans to open its Locust store in late September or early October. This will be the second brewery in the city after The Brew Room, which opened in May.
Images of Vikings ready for battle will greet people when Buzzed Viking opens later this year.
After searching various communities including Mooresville and Monroe to set up a second location, owners Jon Pokorny and Mike Moroe settled on Locust.
“We are a small town that is still developing and we wanted to create something a little more local,” Pokorny said, adding that after he and Moroe came to Locust and talked to the residents, “This is a great spot. .”
Buzzed Viking is the first combination brewery and butchery to be established in Cavallas County and one of the few in the country, according to its website.
While the name is interesting, Pokorny said it has nothing to do with overindulgence.
“I want you to bring your children and families,” Pokorny said of the environment he wants to raise.
Part of the name comes from the fact that mead is the oldest form of alcohol on earth and was drank by the Vikings. And mead is made from honey honey. Another explanation for the name, Pokorny says, is that it was named after Moroe’s wife, Sheri, who is from a Norwegian family whose ancestry traces it to Vikings. Her grandfather was a beekeeper, and the bees would whistle every time they stung her.
Compared to the Concord location, which serves basic bar food, Locust offers an extensive and colorful menu, about 90% of which is complete. Honey chicken and waffles, wagyu beef with chili-pepper bacon jam, elk and wild boar burgers, a sandwich named Ronnie Little (Pokorny declined to provide additional details), giant turkey leg, and honey-coated pork. etc. can be expected. Schnitzel with sweet potato gnocchi. More traditional bar fare include pretzels, honey-crusted chicken skins, and locust hot fries.
“Basically, it turns out there’s a Tailgators Sports Grill, fast food, and a Local Room. Well, we’re landing right in the middle,” said Pokorny, with dishes costing about $15 more. I said no.
The Locust location features about 20 beers brewed on-site and about 4-6 mead wines. Buzzed Vikings mead is 12% ABV.
Concord’s bustling buffet offers a rotating selection of nearly 70 mead wines, including blackberry, blueberry, apple, pina colada, mango and cheesecake. Pokorny said Locust customers can expect a similar variety of services.
Besides food and drink, the Buzzed Vikings of the Locust is an entertainment venue. Activities include music bingo, face painting, a game called Brew Bag (a combination of corn hole and beer pong), live music, and comedy shows.
“We test a lot and see what our customers like,” he said.
This business aims to satisfy its customers in four ways: said Pokorny.