City business man Barry Monaghan gave this newspaper a tour of the new Reginald in advance of his planned opening, which is planned for early November.
We were very impressed with the wide range of facilities planned for the venue in the redeveloped Viking Quarter.
From the craft beer bar with Irish traditional music for visitors to the fine outdoor balcony bar upstairs and adjoining restaurant that seats 80 people, the new Reg certainly looks the part.
Downstairs, the whiskey connoisseurs will enjoy a special whiskey bar, a new concept in Waterford.
A special offer of whisky tasting for €10 with five different options will be available
There will also be a range of five craft beers plus Guinness and Heineken in the craft bar, which dates back several decades in terms of look, with the wooden backdrop sourced in Dublin.
So here we have something a little different in Waterford and reminds one of the dramatic and radical changes to the Pulpit Bar in John Street back in the 1990s brought about by the Tweedy family.
The Reginald will also accommodate live music via a stage and dance floor, while the Reg’s long bar has been retained and should certainly prove a great city centre meeting place.
The old stone work, synonymous with the ancient city’s heritage, has also been exposed in the ground floor.
Upstairs in the restaurant, the fine sashed windows have been retained as you overlook Baileys New Street and the soon to be bustling Viking Quarter.
The Reginald has been well and truly transformed and is a credit to new vision from Barry Monaghan.
A few nearby houses have been purchased to aid the expansion and allow new upstairs and kitchen options while the external facade has been preserved.
On the balcony, come summertime, customers will relax in the shadow of Reginald’s Tower, which reminds one of some of the venues in historic cities in Britain and is sure to prove a hit with foreign visitors, all the more so with the House of Waterford Crystal just around the corner on The Mall.
This development marks a revival in the night life of Waterford and will be welcomed by business people in the city centre, especially those working in the tourist trade.
Part of the Reginald investment was funded by the Enterprise Incentive Scheme, which saw considerable capital raised in difficult times to enable this plan to be achieved well done to then for investing in Waterford in the middle of an economic crisis.
Fiona McHardy of the Viking Triangle believes the new Reg “will bring great vibrancy to the area, and I hope that locals get behind it over the coming months”. She added: “And I cannot wait to taste the food in ‘Catch 22’, the new fish restaurant, which looks very cosmopolitan indeed.”
