Indy's first beauty bar serving liquor to open

INDYSTAR - Dana Hunsinger Benbow

Boozy beauty? That's right.

Think a nail bar, where you sit high upon stools for a manicure as bartenders serve up drinks. Think of lounge areas where you can get comfy on a couch, getting your makeup done while sipping a cocktail.

Indianapolis is getting its first beauty salon that can legally serve alcohol. The Beauty Bar at Geist, 11691 Fall Creek Road, will open next month with a salon full of stylists, estheticians and its own three-way alcohol license. That allows the salon to serve beer, wine and liquor.

"We want to create that women sports bar kind of atmosphere," said Erin Hunt, who owns the salon with her husband, Chad.

Last summer, the two moved to Carmel from south Florida, where Hunt said beauty bars were sprinkled throughout the area.

"This concept of a manicure bar counter was very popular," she said. "We thought it would be great to bring here."

The Beauty Bar, formally Reeda Todd Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa in Geist, is under construction and set to open in mid-July. The nail bar, pedicure stations and lounges will be on the first level. The hair styling will take place upstairs.

Hunt envisions the upscale salon as a great place for bachelorette parties, wedding showers and girls' nights out.

But don't discount this salon as a place for men, too. Maybe a beauty date night?

"Yes. We have bourbon for men," the website boasts.

The salon will be the first in Indianapolis to have a liquor license, according to Hunt.

Cpl. Travis Thickstun with the Indiana State Excise Police confirmed this is the first in the city.

The Beauty Bar has the same 3-way license as a restaurant would, he said.

The salon will have to "meet the law's requirements to be considered a restaurant," Thickstun said, "and we will be closely monitoring it to make sure it's operating as a restaurant should."

3:13 p.m. EDT June 12, 2014