{"id":5293,"date":"2015-01-22T10:22:13","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T17:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=5293"},"modified":"2015-01-23T07:42:29","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T14:42:29","slug":"doc-harpers-adds-a-splash-to-downton-billings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2015\/01\/doc-harpers-adds-a-splash-to-downton-billings\/","title":{"rendered":"Doc Harper&#8217;s adds a splash to downtown Billings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"slides-5293\" class=\"navis-slideshow\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"slide-nav\">\n\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"prev\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"next\"><\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"slides_container\"><div id=\"5293-slide1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Main-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Main-1-of-1-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>An hour into its opening Wednesday, Doc Harper's martini bar was doing brisk business.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"5293-slide2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Upstairs-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Upstairs-1-of-1-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A view of Doc Harper's from the mezzanine.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"5293-slide3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Exterior-1-of-1-771x530.jpg*771*530\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Exterior-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>The martini bar is located at 116 N. Broadway.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"5293-slide4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Doc-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Doc-1-of-1-771x882.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>The bar was named for Bruce Harper's father, Dr. R.D. Harper.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><script>jQuery( document ).ready( function() { loadSlideshow( 5293, 'https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2015\/01\/doc-harpers-adds-a-splash-to-downton-billings\/', 4 ) } );<\/script>\n<p>A week later than planned, Doc Harper\u2019s martini bar had a \u201csoft opening\u201d Wednesday, throwing open its doors at 4 p.m. By 5, the place was jumping, with nearly every seat on the main level taken and more people sitting in the mezzanine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called some friends and texted some kids, that\u2019s all,\u201d Barb Harper said. \u201cI\u2019m amazed at all the people here.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>She and her husband, Bruce Harper, are the owners of the new nightspot at 116 N. Broadway in the heart of downtown Billings. The long, narrow space is tucked in between Belle en Blanc, a high-end bridal shop, and Prohibition Clothiers, which sells tailor-made men\u2019s clothing and has a full-service barbershop.<\/p>\n<p>With Doc Harper\u2019s occupying the space that most recently housed zPizza, the Babcock Theatre Building is officially full again, seven years after it was purchased by two couples, Mike Mathew and Kay Foster and Don and Kim Olsen.<\/p>\n<p>Mathew said a couple of other people arrived at Doc Harper\u2019s before he did Wednesday evening, but he ordered the first martini.<\/p>\n<p>Gesturing around at the full house, Mathew said, \u201cJust the way you see people in here indicates they\u2019re meeting a market demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"well\"><div class=\"dfad dfad_pos_1 dfad_first\" id=\"_ad_652\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/mjhWkW\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/201703_capeair_variable.jpg\" alt=\"CapreAir_Variable\" width=\"510\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18069\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>Bruce Harper, who continues to practice law at 72, said he got into the bar business after winning a full liquor license in a state lottery a few years ago. He said he wanted to run a tavern, but not badly enough to buy a liquor license on the open market. Thanks to Montana\u2019s quota system, such licenses have gone for more than $1 million.<\/p>\n<p>After winning the lottery, he and Barb ran a liquor concession at the Billings Depot for about nine months, but since it was almost entirely dependent on events held there, it was difficult to get established. Last spring, they heard about the opening in the Babcock building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBarb and I walked in together and I said, \u2018This would be a great place for a martini bar,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>They liked the big-city feel of it, with the mezzanine seating and the tight quarters on the main level\u2014about 29 feet wide and 120 feet long. Renovation started Sept. 1. The interior was designed by Barb<br \/>\nHarper and Kim Olsen, who, with her husband, owns O2 Architects.<\/p>\n<p>They came up with a sleek, hip, modern look, accented by painted panels sporting mirror collages, made by Olsen.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5298\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-5298 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Barb-Bruce-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"The couple\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Barb-Bruce-1-of-1.jpg 771w, https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Barb-Bruce-1-of-1-336x224.jpg 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barb and Bruce Harper greet customers at their newly opened martini bar.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Bruce Harper said he ended up sinking about $150,000 into the place, including the cost of the liquor license.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother good thing was, it didn\u2019t have gaming, and I didn\u2019t want gaming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The bar is named for his father, Dr. R.D. Harper, a Chicago native who practiced in Sidney for 41 years and lived in Billings from 1983 until his death in 1994.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe delivered over 3,000 babies,\u201d said Barb, who was born in nearby Fairview, \u201cand my brother and me were two of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name was suggested by Bruce\u2019s nephew, R.D. Harper III, a captain with the Billings Police Department. The bar\u2019s signature martini is Doc\u2019s Preferred, consisting only of \u201cvigorously shaken\u201d Grey Goose vodka, served with a speared olive and onion in a chilled glass.<\/p>\n<p>Other martinis include Barb\u2019s Grapefruitini, Healy\u2019s Great North Vesper and the Sidecar. What\u2019s in them? Just ask your friendly bartender. Doc Harper\u2019s also has a selection of wines by the glass or bottle, plus bottled beer and tap beer from four local breweries.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5299\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-5299 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc-Harper-Mtthew-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Mathew\" width=\"336\" height=\"323\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Mathew, a co-owner of the Babcock Theatre Building, welcomed his latest tenant by having a martini at Doc Harper&#8217;s Wednesday.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For now, the menu also includes just two items, a cheese and cracker flight and a cheese and meat flight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to add a couple other simple things next week,\u201d Barb said. Bruce added, \u201cWe never wanted to be in the food business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hours are 4 to midnight Monday through Saturday, and they are thinking of expanding their Saturday hours in the near future. The Harpers were planning to have a grand opening a week earlier, on Jan. 14, and had advertised it on Facebook, but their credit-card system wasn\u2019t and still isn\u2019t working. At the soft opening Wednesday, it was cash-only.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Harper said Vantiv\u2019s back-office wireless payment system never performed the way it was supposed to, and he was disappointed in the company\u2019s response to their problems. He was going to have one last conversation with the president of the business on Thursday, but he said they would probably install another system by a different vendor as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>One of the early customers Wednesday was Jim Huertas, co-owner of Prohibition Clothiers next door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a big fan of the concept from Day 1.\u201d He said his store is working on pairing up with Doc Harper\u2019s for what they\u2019re calling the \u201cSweeney Todd Special.\u201d From 9 to noon on Saturdays, patrons will be able to get a razor shave at Prohibition Clothiers and a bloody Mary from Doc Harper\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like the idea of it being an upscale clientele,\u201d Huertas said of the martini bar. \u201cNow my people have a place to wear their outfits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A week later than planned, Doc Harper\u2019s martini bar had a \u201csoft opening\u201d Wednesday, throwing open its doors at 4 p.m. By 5, the place was jumping, with nearly every seat on the main level taken and more people sitting in the mezzanine. \u201cI called some friends and texted some kids, that\u2019s all,\u201d Barb Harper [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17,18],"tags":[178,1982,1984,1981,1980,1699,1986,1140,1983,1135,1985],"class_list":["post-5293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-billings","category-culture","category-diversions","tag-babcock-theatre","tag-barb-harper","tag-belle-en-blanc","tag-bruce-harper","tag-doc-harpers","tag-don-olsen","tag-jim-huertas","tag-kay-foster","tag-kim-olsen","tag-mike-mathew","tag-prohibition-clothiers","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}