Love Jazz & Soul Food? Unique Bar Opening Soon in Kalamazoo

A new business promising craft cocktails and curated entertainment is coming to downtown Kalamazoo this summer.

I came across this announcement thanks to the Facebook group, Kalamazoo Foodie, and am already excited. Jazz music, soul food, an elegant atmosphere, and hand-crafted cocktails? It sounds like Debney & Co. will be offering a great evening out on the town.

Taking over the space where Civil Coffee used to reside, Dabney & Co. promises to bring a variety of music to their space while offering soul food in tapas form, according to their website. The announcement of their future opening came on June 19th:

A date that's fitting considering Dabney & Co. was named after a man who was once enslaved and used his cocktail skills to earn enough money to buy his freedom. In an interview with Now Kalamazoo, Daniel May, the owner of Dabney & Co., said,

John Dabney was an enslaved individual who was known for his take on the Mint Julep. His owner at the time lent him out to the local hotels and restaurants. During that time period, the only money that you could keep was tip money. He worked his way up from the kitchen to the bar and made so much money off of his take on cocktails and everything else that he was able to buy his freedom and that of his wife.

You can read more about the history of John Dabney here.

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Serving a few cocktails that predate prohibition, Dabney & Co. will be a tribute to unthanked and unrecognized pioneers that came before them, according to their website. And, they hope to make the experience memorable for anyone who visits. Something that shouldn't be hard to do. Aside from cocktails that sound delectable, Dabney & Co. says that,

Our employees are known to spontaneously break into song and dancing.

Curious about the type of music they'll be playing at Dabney & Co.? They've created an entire playlist on Spotify.

While an official opening date has yet to be announced, Dabney & Co. hopes to open its doors this summer. You can stay up to date on any future announcements by following Dabney & Co. on Facebook.