The outside of 315 S. Second St. is painted bright green now. Inside, the chandelier belonged to the late Peter Gregerson, and the piano came from the old Courtyard Cafe. The walls are hung with paintings of Gadsden landmarks. After more than a decade empty, the nearly 100-year-old building opened this June as Harker's, an Irish pub and steakhouse.
Most people in town still know the building as The Warehouse. The Anniston Star's opening story describes how that restaurant ran its day: meat-and-vegetable lunches until mid-afternoon, then more upscale food at night. Harker's kept that split on purpose. That matters for planning a visit, because this fall's downtown calendar is almost all evening events.
What Dennis Harker Kept From The Warehouse
Owner Dennis Harker already runs Big D's Game Changer, the sports bar at 201 S. Third St. According to The Anniston Star, he spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" renovating the Second Street building. He told the paper his goal was to keep the old place's feel and add an Irish twist. He has run an Irish pub before, in Key West, and he dedicated this one to a close friend from Belfast, Tommy Rodgers.
"I didn't want to lose the atmosphere of The Warehouse. Everybody knows The Warehouse. They had good food and that's my goal, to have good food."
That's how Harker put it to The Anniston Star.
The piano ties the building to more than one local restaurant. It belonged to Doris Wettlin, who owned the Courtyard Cafe, The Oasis on Rainbow Drive and one version of The Warehouse. Harker's plays it as a player piano during the week, and the opening plans called for live music on weekends.
The Day Clock: Meat-and-Two, Monday Through Friday
The lunch Warehouse regulars remember runs on weekdays only. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, you pick two meats from a list that rotates daily. The Anniston Star listed these options:
- Meatloaf, hamburger steak or country fried steak
- Grilled chicken, or chicken and dressing
- Pulled pork, smoked ribs, or beef tips and rice
- Fish and chips
- Spaghetti and meatballs
The lunch side of the menu also has two half-pound Angus burgers, the Irish Pub Burger and the Whiskey BBQ Burger, along with a Reuben and a grilled chicken fillet sandwich.
Harker's posted schedule shows lunch Monday through Friday only. Monday is lunch only, with no dinner. Saturday has no lunch at all, so the meat-and-two is a weekday habit for people who work downtown or can get there midday.
The Night Clock: A Steakhouse After 5
Dinner starts at 5 p.m. on weeknights and at 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The steaks are a 12-ounce Garlic Ribeye, a 14-ounce Harker's New York Strip, an 8-ounce Filet Dublin, and a 12-ounce Irish Whiskey Sirloin finished with a Jameson glaze. The Irish dishes are Shepherd's Pie, Bangers and Mash, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Irish Stew and Guinness Onion Soup, served alongside Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops and Teriyaki Salmon. For dessert there's Bailey's Bread Pudding with Bailey's Irish Cream sauce.
The headline dish is the King Cut Ribeye Challenge, a 42-ounce steak. It's free if you finish it plus a baked potato and a salad within an hour. You have to give 48 hours' notice and put down a 50% deposit.
Dining room and patio together seat 175. The patio has a retractable awning, and there's also a porch and a private room for seven.
The hours have changed since opening. In early summer, The Anniston Star reported a single span of 11 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. The restaurant's website now lists separate lunch, bar and dinner service, with later closing times at the end of the week:
| Day | Lunch | Bar | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | none listed | none listed |
| Tuesday to Thursday | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 4 to 9 p.m. | 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Friday | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 4 to 9 p.m. | 5 to 10 p.m. |
| Saturday | none listed | noon to 10 p.m. | 4 to 10 p.m. |
| Sunday | Brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 3 to 7 p.m. | none listed |
Brunch is one more reason to go on the weekend. The menu includes an Irish Breakfast Plate, Guinness French Toast, Bailey's Waffles, Corned Beef Hash, and Shrimp and Gouda Grits. Since posted hours have shifted once already, it makes sense to call before a big night. The number on Downtown Gadsden's member listing is 256-467-3575.
Where This Fall's Downtown Dates Land
Line the downtown calendar up against that schedule and nearly every event falls during evening hours.
Saturday, Oct. 31. Downtown Gadsden holds trick-or-treat from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is the one daytime event, and it lands on the one day Harker's skips lunch. The bar opens at noon, and dinner starts at 4.
Friday, Nov. 6. The Gadsden Museum of Art opens new exhibitions from 5 to 7 p.m. Harker's Friday dinner runs 5 to 10 p.m., so you can see the show and then eat.
Thursday, Nov. 19. Christmas on the Coosa opens at Riverside Park at 6 p.m. and runs through Jan. 5, 2027. The listing includes ice skating and ice bumper cars. That's on the riverfront rather than Second Street, so it pairs with dinner on any night through the holidays.
Thursday, Dec. 3. The museum opens The Arthouse Group's "Light and Shadow" from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday dinner at Harker's ends at 9.
Friday, Dec. 4. This is the big one, covered in the next section.
Dec. 4 Ends at Second Street
The City of Gadsden Christmas Parade is Friday, Dec. 4, which is also First Friday. It starts at 5:30 p.m. and runs down Broad Street from 7th Street to 2nd Street, the cross street Harker's sits on. Lineup starts at 4:30 p.m. If the weather is bad, the city will reschedule and announce a new date.
The timing works out neatly. Harker's bar opens at 4 p.m. on Fridays and dinner at 5, so dinner service is already underway when the first floats start down Broad Street. Friday is also one of the two nights the kitchen stays open until 10 p.m. With 175 seats and a crowd at the end of the route, booking a table or calling ahead makes sense.
You can also be in the parade. Float entries cost $25 per unit, and the deadline is Nov. 26, 2026. This year Ronnie Watkins Ford is sponsoring a contest for handcrafted floats, with $500 for first place, $300 for second and $200 for third. Entries are judged on creativity, originality, neatness and Christmas spirit. Registration is at gadsden.recdesk.com, and lineup details go out Dec. 3.
When The Warehouse was open, its lunch-then-dinner day fit a downtown that ran on office hours and evenings out. Harker's has brought that same schedule back to Second Street. This year the Christmas parade ends at 2nd Street, the street a steakhouse opening at 5 sits on.
A building that sat empty for over a decade now has a full menu and posted hours, and that kind of change on a downtown block is something our agents follow. If you own property near Broad Street or Second Street and want to know what that activity means for your home's value, Impact Realty can run the numbers with you. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, then call us to talk it through.
