Earlier this year, Brandon McEachern, Marcus Allen, and Darryl Perkins—founders of Broccoli City, the hip-hop, rap, and R&B music festival that’s featured headliners like Solange, Cardi B, and Future—headed down to South by Southwest in Austin, TX, where they met &pizza CEO Michael Lastoria over a few adult beverages. On October 24, just seven months after that boozy chat, the guys will open a cocktail-and-pizza bar called Broccoli Bar. Inspired by art pop-ups like the Future of Sports, Allen, McEachern, and Perkinsthe trio hopes to expand the community outreach and health programming that they celebrate each spring during their music festival.
One thing the Broccoli team wants to do to differentiate its bar from others in the buzzy neighborhood is hold an extended happy hour they’re calling “The Vibe,” which will run from 6 to 10 PM with discounted drinks and DJs. For those who actually make it to late night, the bar will be open till 2 AM Thursday through Saturday. The bar will serve up &pizza staples, plus an exclusive pie topped with broccoli and cheddar beer cheese. The inaugural talk planned for 6 PM on opening day (October 24th ), features Ajit Varghese and Harry Alford, founders of the venture capital firm Ventures. Another event, planned for November 14th, will feature Christopher Bradshaw, the founder and director of Dreaming Out Loud. Another thing major happening kicking off on November 3rd - weekend brunch with three breakfast pizzas.