Terrapin’s Turf
New live music bar Terrapin’s Turf has been a long time coming.
For almost three-and-a-half years, an angular two-story building has sat vacant near Ratsie’s Pizza on Knox Road, tantalizing students’ memories with flashbacks of the glory days — when students would party all night to live bands at former bar Santa Fe Cafe. But in May 2010, after years of squabbling between the bar’s owners and code enforcement officials over installing a sprinkler system, the bar shut its doors for the last time.
In the next week, Terrapin’s Turf will open in Santa Fe’s former location, after a year-and-a-half delay while owners worked to bring the building up to code. Owners Salomeh, Yasmine and Mohammad Afshar received their final permit from the city on Thursday, giving them the green light to open their live music establishment.
“I can’t believe it. Thursday, I was just like, ‘Is it really happening?’ It just seems like so long,” Salomeh Afshar said. “It’s been very emotionally draining, for sure, but today was a happy day for all of us. Finally, that’s it. There’s really nothing else that can happen now.”
The process for obtaining permits and licenses took longer than expected when the owners learned they had to make several renovations. Previously, the property was listed as residential, and the former owners hadn’t made the renovations needed to bring it up to commercial code.
During one inspection, the Afshars learned they would have to renovate the entire establishment and install a sprinkler system, which involved making internal structural changes and digging up the street.
But the ordeal came to an end Thursday, and the owners said they tentatively plan to open the bar Friday, though Afshar said it will “for sure” be open by Sunday.
This week, the Afshars are taking the last steps needed to set up their bar — training their staff and buying food and alcohol.
The Afshars, who have a long history in the bar and restaurant industry, said they hope to bring a Washington vibe to College Park. They plan to provide live music through DJs or bands five or six days a week and feature student and local bands, Afshar said.
Inside the two-floor establishment, a centrally located bar is surrounded by flat-screen TVs, a dining room and reserved areas outfitted with couches. The bar also has an outdoor patio.
For about $200 to $300, which includes the $5 cover charge and food and drink costs, students will be able to reserve tables for a night for about 10 people, Afshar said. She envisions students coming to the bar to watch sports games during the day, take their parents out to dinner in the evening and party with their friends late at night.
The bar will serve American cuisine with specials such as Sunday brunch, “Taco Tuesdays,” wing specials and a Saturday “ballpark buffet” including hot dogs, sliders, cole slaw and beans.
Though the bar will be restricted to patrons 21 years and older most nights, the Afshars will open it up to those 18 and older at least one night a week, most likely Wednesdays or Sundays, Afshar said. On those days, she said, the bar will double its security team.
“We’re the new kid on the block, so we have to watch our business,” she said. “We’ve been through a lot to open our doors, so I’m not going to let a couple hundred underage students come in and destroy things.”
The bar’s opening will make downtown College Park a more “desirable destination,” said Michael Stiefvater, College Park economic development coordinator.
“It’s nice to see a building that has been out of use for several years open its doors again,” Stiefvater wrote in an email. Terrapin’s Turf will also add to competition among the bars, he said, which “pushes each place to keep their product at a high level, whether that be food quality, prices or service.”
A student who works at one of the city bars said his bar isn’t worried about losing business because of Terrapin’s Turf’s opening.
“We’ll see how well they do because people are always going to go to Cornerstone [Grill and Loft] or [R.J.] Bentley’s; that’s what the move is,” said the student, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his job. But he added it was “exciting” to see a place opening that hosts live shows.
Though Afshar said they haven’t done much advertising, she anticipates the place filled with students from day one — a crowd that has been waiting just as impatiently as the owners have for the bar to open.
“Everyone’s walking by, [saying] ‘Oh my God, are you opening, are you opening?’” Afshar said. “Their jaws are dropping and building my excitement, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t wait.’ I want people to come in here.”
Despite the months of stress and frustration, the Afshars are “super excited” to finally open their doors, breathing new life into a building that has sat abandoned for years, giving students a place to make new memories.
“At this point, we’re just happy to start,” Afshar said. “We’re done; we’re done.”
