A new bar has found a home in downtown Waterloo, standing out from other Main Street establishments with its unique focus on canned cocktails.

Night Fox is owned and operated by Megan and Michael Pastor, who are also known owners of Pie Hard Pizzeria on West Mill Street in Waterloo.

Megan explained how the businesses have developed over the last few years, with the COVID-19 pandemic having a profound impact on both.

They effectively happened on their storefronts by chance, first moving Pie Hard from its original food truck into its current location but quickly running into trouble before they got off the ground, ordering their food and ingredients at the very start of the pandemic.

“We just kind of struggled through COVID like every restaurant did,” Megan said. “At a point, the only staff we had was just my husband and I… We went through the normal labor shortage that every business seemed to be going through, especially restaurants, and we still were holding on to the Night Fox building at the same time.”

Through this time, Night Fox remained something of a vague idea, with Megan and Michael bouncing between a couple of themes and concepts for the bar.

Eventually, they landed on the canned cocktail idea. Though Michael was especially wary of the concept to begin with, the two have ultimately decided to jump into a bar with all pre-prepared drinks.

Megan explained there are a number of reasons they opted to go with this setup. For one, she has a distinct affinity for cans, particularly when it comes to the art they can feature that bottles and throwaway cups just can’t.

Perhaps the biggest benefit Megan outlined is how an all-can bar opens up the labor market significantly. Whereas a typical bar requires a substantial amount of training among bartending staff, serving canned cocktails is a rather simpler task – though Megan noted that as with any bartender, friendly service is still paramount.

“There were actually a handful of selling points,” Megan said. “Whenever we had started to rethink how we wanted to approach this place, we knew that we had to be smart about it. We had changed the way we ran our business a lot during COVID. Restaurants simply aren’t run the same way anymore.”

COVID further impacted Night Fox’s development given how the canned cocktail industry exploded through the pandemic.

Megan described the range of beverages now available in cans – from the usual beers to wines and a variety of cocktails.

“I educated myself on RTDs, ready-to-drink cocktails, which really started to take off during COVID because bars were closed, restaurants were closed,” Megan said. “People had to start making cocktails at home or the industry started to realize ‘Hey, we can start canning all of these products.’ It became a billion dollar industry, and it started outselling seltzers.”

The concept is certainly unique, and, as Megan attested, the Pastors have had some concerns about bringing what is more of a niche bar experience to the community.

Night Fox, she said, simply won’t be for everyone. She added the establishment isn’t specifically looking to compete with other downtown bars, instead offering just a different experience.

“It’s something that has gone through both of our heads probably every single night for the last year in some way, shape or form,” Megan said. “It is so different. Honestly, if this idea would have came to us before COVID, we probably would never do it. Our attitude changed a lot after the pandemic.”

Even with these concerns, Night Fox seems to have had a solid response from the community since its soft opening earlier this month.

Megan spoke positively about the first week of business, saying they’ve come to learn that vodka mules and Sip Margs seem to be in high demand.

Megan was also happy as she described the overall atmosphere of Night Fox, further describing how the bar differentiates itself from other businesses.

“We didn’t really know what the vibe would be until we had a lot of people in there,” Megan said. “When we had a lot of people in there, it didn’t feel like a Randy’s, it didn’t feel like an RRR, it didn’t feel like an Outsider, places that we all love going to. It was just a little quieter. It was just a little more laid back. We’ve always kind of called it a drink hall and not a bar.”

Going forward, the Pastors are keen to continue developing Night Fox, adding new drinks to the menu and bringing events to the space as well.

Megan specifically mentioned plans to move Pie Hard trivia to Night Fox as well as hopes to get an “adult prom” set up sometime.

Night Fox is currently open at 101 S. Main Street in Waterloo from 5-10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, though Megan said the times are subject to change depending on what the crowds look like going forward.

For more information on Night Fox, visit nightfoxwaterloo.com.