The Nevada Sagebrush

Restaurant expects to open in old Fritz space April 12

A University of Nevada, Reno student eats an Awful Awful burger. The famous burger will be sold near campus at The Wolf Den, a restaurant set to open April 12. Photo by Brian Bolton /Nevada Sagebrush.

The opening of a bar in a residential neighborhood usually breeds community concerns of late-night safety, streets choked with parked cars and too much noise — but that’s not the case for residents near College Drive and Virginia Street.

Much of the surrounding area, composed mostly of college students, can’t wait for The Wolf Den to open in the University of Nevada, Reno neighborhood. The bar, which is expected to open April 12, replaces Fritz Bar and Grill, a former college hang out. The world-famous Awful Awful burger will also arrive as a featured menu item among other sports-grill food and drinks.

“I think it’s great it’s opening,” Joseph Neiman, a 23-year-old chemistry major, said. “I hope more places like that do. There’s very few places around campus you can go to get a drink or a decent meal.”

George Buddy and Alex Kanwetz, owners of the Little Nugget (home of the original Awful Awful) will head The Wolf Den. They said they hope to weave their restaurant into the university community to fill that void.

Buddy and Kanwetz say the restaurant will “bleed silver and blue” and that they hope to make it an all-ages “gathering place.” They plan to hold fundraisers for university groups, nominate players of the week and host community barbecues.

“We want to be known as the University of Nevada’s bar and restaurant,” Kanwetz said.

In addition to walls covered in Wolf Pack decor, The Wolf Den plans to show off a deck that doubles the size of the Fritz patio and an “amazing” bar that’s so “special” it’s staying a secret until opening day.

The restaurant will be open at 8 a.m. for breakfast, and stay open until midnight during the midweek and 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday when they hope to have the “cheapest drinks around and the coldest beers.”

Although The Wolf Den will serve alcohol, Kanwetz said the restaurant is part of UNR’s Real Bar Campaign, which discourages underage drinking, binge drinking and driving under the influence.

Chuck Clement, safety director for the residence halls (which are across the street from the bar), said the Real Bar Campaign has helped form a partnership between the university and businesses.

“We work with them to tell them some of the concerns and problems,” he said. “We support businesses that support our interests too.”

Director of the UNR Police Department Adam Garcia said he thinks The Wolf Den’s participation in the campaign will help with public safety.

Although there is a trend of people getting drunk and heading downtown to the Little Nugget for an Awful Awful, university police and The Wolf Den owners said they think that won’t be a problem with the hamburger’s new home.

“I think a lot of it is the location,” Buddy, a UNR alum, said. “There’s no comparison with vicinity. Downtown is downtown – we all know that. I expect the faculty members, young and old alumni, students and sports fans to be the crowd (at The Wolf Den instead).”

Construction on The Wolf Den restaurant includes an expanded deck. Photo by Brian Bolton /Nevada Sagebrush.

One student, Vince Godinho, a 19-year-old criminal justice major, doesn’t think the downtown crowd invading campus will be an issue either.

“I feel like people won’t necessarily come up here rather than just staying in downtown,” he said.

One similarity with the downtown location and the new venue is few parking spaces — The Wolf Den has eight. The owners say they will actively promote green transportation in conjunction with Transit Oriented Development Plan and hope their customers can walk, ride bikes or take the Sierra Spirit and RTC busses, which have a stop outside the restaurant.

“I don’t think there will be any parking issues,” Michelle Horton, a UNR Parking and Transportation Services official, said.

The parking lot behind Canada Hall is open to the public after 5 p.m. Fridays and all day Saturdays and Sundays, she said.

“We didn’t run into problems when Fritz was there, so I don’t think we’ll run into any issues now,” Horton said.

Neighborhood residents have expressed similar feelings about possible noise from the new restaurant as well.

“I don’t really think it will be that big of a problem,” Amber Durkin, a 19-year-old political science major who lives nearby, said. “Virginia Street and Sierra are already pretty loud, so I’m not worried about it getting any louder.”

Noise is one reason The Wolf Den will close at 2 a.m. on weekends, though. Claudia Hanson, the planning manager for the City of Reno, said the owners volunteered to close at that time out of concern for the surrounding neighborhood.

The Wolf Den will also not host live music late at night in an attempt to keep noise levels down, the owners said.

If noise does become an issue, Hanson said there are ordinances in effect that residents can call police to enforce.

After issues with building permits delayed the opening of the restaurant for nearly a year, both the owners and the community are anxious to see construction complete and the long-overdue restaurant open.

“We really want to be the university’s bar,” Kanwetz said. “We wish we could be in the middle of campus.”

Jessica Fryman and Jay Balagna can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

Audio slideshow by Ricardo Lopez/Nevada Sagebrush.

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