North Texas Daily

Joshua Knopp // Senior Staff Writer

New applications for liquor licenses hang the old HMS Art & Frame Shop and in the window next door to Crooked Crust where Campus Bookstore used to be. Inside Pita Pit, a wall separates the restaurant from a new bar called Campus Pub.

Campus Pub effectively takes up half of Pita Pit. The bar opened last week and is still a work in progress — the dividing wall between it and Pita Pit won’t be complete for another two weeks. They don’t yet have their full liquor license or the license to stay open until 2 a.m., though both are expected by the fall. Manager Kristin Fraley said the lack of licensing isn’t stopping them from bringing a new flavor to the Denton bar scene.

Because they can only serve beer and wine, Fraley said they’ve been using “other than standard orange wine,” a category of plain alcohol used to substitute liquors like rum and vodka. Campus Pub serves Jello-shots and various mixed drinks made with the mock liquor.

Fraley has several ideas to make the bar unique, such as theme nights, including an LGBTQ night that she is organizing with UNT’s Glad group, frequent live music and a daiquiris machine.

Campus Pub is open 6 p.m. to midnight, staying open until 1 a.m. Saturdays. They will be closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week until summer school starts

Inside, the bar features black lights and full-wall artwork from UNT graduate Trayce Cochran, who will also paint the remaining segment of wall.

Fraley said she will use the summer to develop the bar’s identity for the fall.

“We’re going to be one of the most impressive bars on Fry Street, I guarantee you,” she said.

Information on the other two license applicants is scarce, with even next door neighbors having heard little. The Campus Bookstore application says the bar will be called Shots & Crafts, and the application in the old HMS is for Tom’s Daiquiri Place. Neither location is open.

Feature Photo: This mural is one of two wall-sized paintings inside Campus Pub, a new bar located on Fry Street, painted by UNT alumnus Trayce Cochran. Cochran will paint a third when the wall between Campus Pub and Pita Pit is completed in two weeks. Photo by Senior Staff Writer Josh Knopp.