Detroit Axe, Corner Tavern, Game Room to open in location of now-closed Local Kitchen and Bar

Ferndale complex to offer wide variety of games, activities

Ownership team includes former Local Kitchen owner Brian Siegel

Metro Detroit has fowling and escape rooms, but what it's really been missing is ax throwing.

That's the opinion of Brian Siegel and Geoff Kretchmer, anyway. Siegel, who owned Local Kitchen and Bar in downtown Ferndale before closing it earler this month, is opening Detroit Axe above a new restaurant concept in Local's former space at 344 W. Nine Mile Road.

Local Kitchen closed Oct. 1 and the new concepts are set to open in early November.

Throwing a sharp hatchet at a painted target is a familiar pastime for Renaissance Festival attendees, but it's also a popular pub game in Canada, Siegel said. It's gaining momentum in the U.S. now, too.

Siegel and Kretchmer also own Ferndale-based Star Trax Events and Joe Dumars' Fieldhouse in Shelby Township and Detroit.

"We do provide event services so we're constantly combing the world for interesting, dramatic ways to be entertained," Siegel said.

They have other investors in the new Ferndale venture, but Siegel declined to release names.

Detroit Axe will open in 3,000 square feet on the floor above the Corner Tavern and Game Room, which are also set to open in the next several weeks. The entire complex is 10,000 square feet and will employ about 60.

The ax-focused facility can accommodate up to 160 people. It will have 12 lanes for ax-throwing, which costs $35-$40 for a two-hour tournament or $20 per hour. It'll also offer darts, shuffleboard, bumper pool and arcade games, and serve drinks and food from the tavern.

Beer and weapons aren't a perfect match, so Detroit Axe employees will watch how much alcohol customers are consuming. It will have a "one drink per hour" policy, Siegel said. The lanes are secured with chain-link fences and an "ax master" will be watching for rule-breakers, he said.

"It is statistically very safe, but it has to be administered with discipline because people are throwing weaponry," he said.

The Corner Tavern will offer sandwiches, entree salads and shared plates including mac n' cheese, according to a news release. The adjacent Game Room will provide visitors oversize Jenga and Scrabble, as well as about 1,000 board games, Siegel said.

He declined to specify how much the owners had spent remodeling the spaces. Renovation included enclosing Local Kitchen's outdoor patio and outfitting the second floor with lanes for ax-throwing. The design was by Ron Rea of Birmigham-based Ron and Roman. The company's Roman Bonislawski was the architect.

The tavern is a more neighborhood-driven concept than Local Kitchen and Bar was, Siegel had said after the restaurant closed earlier this month. It had done "reasonably well financially," Siegel had said, but the team was ready to make a big change along with the restaurant industry.