The doors at 438 Bridge Street opened again for the first time since October. Monte's, the former college-crowd dance hot spot is trading in 10 years worth of Jager-bombs and Red Bull vodkas for microbrews and something-fruity-tinis. The Establishment kicked off its grand opening party yesterday, with local cover-artists Great Scott rocking everything from "Baby Got Back" to "Ants Marching." This is more than just a change of name and menu -- it's a change of purpose. Live entertainment is central to The Establishment's new persona and it's booked nearly 40 DJs, local bands and regional bands from now to New Year's just to get started. The workspace will be a quaint-but-respectable stage and dance floor, which now commands the rear of The Establishment. It's not huge, but it's outfitted with just the right lighting and sound equipment to groove on proper. Monte's wasn't renovated, it was gutted. The Establishment now resembles a trendy SoHo loft dressed in earthy repurposed materials and smells of polished oak. Every fixture and piece of furniture in the place reeks of timeless character. The bar itself is a cool, solid slate slab resembling a high-school laboratory table. With four-legged wood/metal lab chairs that swivel to match, a Bunsen burner wouldn't look out of place next to the beer taps. Not a bad place to have a cold one.

Photo: Courtesy of The Establishment's Facebook page.