The Blues are coming back to Oshawa. The Simcoe Blues and Jazz bar and grill on Simcoe Street North is set to open in the next couple of weeks.
Oshawa has been without the Blues since Chicago’s Blues diner locked the doors without notice. According to Karen Lean, bar manager, “ We showed up one morning and the doors were locked.”
Kumar Naharagah bought the bar and is waiting on a liquor licence to be approved. Lean says,” It’s really annoying. We’ve been waiting for weeks, we are all ready to open we are just waiting on a piece of paper.”
Naharagah bought the property and has been renovating for the past three months. There is a new kitchen, new beer system and a larger patio that will seat 34 people. The new owner is also a chef and as Lean explains, “We are going to have some delicious food, not just bar food.”
Lean was an employee of Chicago’s and has worked for seven years as a main bartender and manager. She is staying with the Simcoe Street Blues and is excited for the reopening. “We’re hoping for a line up.”
Lean says, “ We book some big bands, ones that play all over Toronto, Ottawa. They perform while they are touring and make a stop off at the Blues.” One of the larger bands is the 18-piece Swing Street Band that plays across Canada.
The blues bar already has a large regular crowd. Lean estimates a good 250 people come in regularly.
There is an older clientele, but as Lean says, “ We do have some younger people that come in and jam with the guys. The older guys end up playing things they’ve never heard before, and the younger guys play the classics.”
For those who not only like to listen to the blues but like to sing them, Mondays and Tuesdays are open mic nights with the Tuesday being acoustic jam night.
