NY Ax-Throwing Bar Plans to Open in Old City

The minor trend of ax-throwing bars continues to roll on, as Brooklyn-based Kick Axe Throwing is planning to open up on Market and Bank streets.

According to the Inquirer’s food and drink human Michael Klein, it will take the place of long-closed Stephen Starr restaurant Tangerine, even retaining some of its fixtures, and is likely to open next year. It would appear that Kick Axe has been a successful venture, with this expansion coming less a year after it opened in New York City.

While the idea of allowing people to consume alcohol and then fling heavy, sharp objects at medium-to-high speeds, Kick Axe itself clarifies that it’s “not a true bar” — hard liquor is not sold on site at its New York location, only beer and wine. Presumably, drunk patrons aren’t allowed to throw axes (some other ax-throwing bars put per-hour limits on drinking).

Kick-Axe functions a little like a bowling alley: groups reserve an eight-person “range” to throw hatchets at a target and let out some aggression; smaller groups may end up sharing a range.

This won’t be Philly’s first ax-throwing bar: Bury the Hatchet opened up on the other side of Center City earlier this year, while Urban Axes in Kensington has been around for at least a couple of years, to say nothing of similar bars in the suburbs.

And for Kick Axe, it’s not the only expansion in the works — per the bar’s website, it’s plotting an opening in Washington, D.C. too.

• Kick Axe Throwing puts a bull’s eye on Old City [Philly.com]
• Ax-Throwing Bars, Explained [E]
• Brooklyn’s Newest Gimmick Is a Bar With Ax-Throwing [ENY]