Rachel McGill, executive chef and owner of downtown Lincoln’s preeminent upscale restaurant Dish, is very bad at naming things — by her own admission.
Namesake aside, McGill’s dishes are usually named after the ingredients used — e.g. “Fried Chicken, Yogurt, and Pickles,” “Grilled Striploin,” or a personal favorite “Carrots, Carrots, Carrots.”
So when McGill decided she wanted to open up a cocktail bar as a sister-concept to Dish with her bar manager Sean Jones, who also admits an ineptness for naming things, they had no clue what to call it.
Rachel McGill, executive chef and co-owner of Dish, and co-owner of The Sitch. (Photo courtesy: Dish)
For months, the hollow retail space at 1140 “O” Street would be referred to by McGill and Jones as “the situation next door.”
While the name would be ironed out, McGill and Jones knew exactly what they wanted to build.
It’s likely that regulars of Lincoln’s downtown bar scene have encountered Jones at some point. From his near decade working at downtown’s preeminent college-bar Sandy’s, where he began as a bouncer, eventually rising to lead bartender and then assistant manager. Or perhaps his 18-month stint at the Scarlet Hotel’s rooftop bar, shaking up craft cocktails more than breaking up fights.
After departing the Scarlet and landing at the since-renamed D.B. Cooper’s Hijackers Lounge, a few servers came by for an after-work drink and encouraged Jones to apply at Dish to be a bartender.
Not only did Jones get the job, it was the perfect mix.
“It’s one thing to have people come visit you at a dive bar and hang out because they like you,” said Jones. “But at Dish, people come because of what you do. They’re interested in your drinks or your food, and they’re a little bit more knowledgeable about it, and they want to talk about it. It’s really rewarding to have your work appreciated, because if you put a lot of effort into something, you feel proud of it.”
Jones jelled perfectly with McGill’s style. Creative techniques. Subversive food combinations. Attention given to the little things.
McGill, Lincoln’s first-ever James Beard Award nominee, showcased her skills on Food Network’s hit show Chopped in August 2023, finishing as the runner-up.
“We were able to play off each other in that way with the food and drink at Dish,” McGill said. “We’ve always had a really good cocktail program… but nothing like what Sean was able to bring to the table.”
With Jones elevating Dish’s cocktail menu over the course of 2023, McGill found herself missing the cozy bar on the opposite end of the block which previously occupied the space at 1140 “O” Street, Marz Bar, which closed in early 2022. After Marz closed, the nightclub-style Gravity opened, later shutting it’s doors by early 2024.
“Marz was one of my very favorite bars to come to after work and just hang out at,” McGills said. “When Gravity closed, I walked through the building and told the owner I would really be interested in doing something here if we could make everything work… and everything just kind of fell into place.”
The trigger was pulled, and by July, McGill and Jones began digging out the remnants of Gravity and building their new bar. After months of referring to the space as the “the situation next door,” they thought, “Do we just call it The Situation then?”
McGill passed, due to the poor connotation with Jersey Shore star Mike Sorrentino — also known as The Situation.
“We didn’t want that kind of a vibe ever, so we shortened it to The Stitch, which felt better. It felt more fun and it kind of plays on the Dish name as well,” she said. “It felt weird at first, and then after we said it a hundred times, it just felt right.”
Sean Jones, co-owner of The Sitch, mixes a cocktail in front of a luminous display of bottles. (Photo by Trevor Marten)
McGill and Jones knew when opening The Sitch, there were shoes-to-fill.
“It’s a little daunting sometimes,” remarked Jones. “It’s one thing to open a brand new bar in a new spot, but Lincoln customers have long memories, so people will come in to a bar and say ‘I used to drink here 20 years ago.’ We’re not just being compared to a good bar. We’re also being compared to their nostalgia for the bar they used to drink at. You want to do justice to the previous bar, but you also want to do your own thing and hope you live up to their expectations.”
“I love to be able to pay some homage to Marz here. We were able to keep some of those key design elements around, but we made it very much our own,” McGill added. “We still have the iconic Peony Park balls that were in Marz the entire time, and stayed when Gravity was here… We also found the Marz “M” from the old sign that was outside, and that’s on the wall. I think it’s really impactful when people remember these little elements, but they see that we’ve done something entirely different with it.”
Peony Park was an Omaha amusement park located at 78th and Cass Street which closed in 1994.
McGill credits the lion’s share of the interior design work to Sloan Dowdy Woods, who’s based in Los Angeles, CA.
Upon entering The Sitch, patrons are met with an open, warmly lit atmosphere. Stools are limited to the long L-shaped bar top. Several cozy vignettes of upholstered couches and chairs pepper the space. A row of intimate booths line the west brick wall. A massive mirror resting on the ground is destined to facilitate endless “mirror selfies.” Those sitting at high-top tables set their drinks on repurposed doors (knobs still in place). Gravity’s upstairs VIP area remains intact, now open to GA. Above all, the owners hope The Sitch is a comfortable, pliable environment, ready for whoever walks in.
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- The Sitch interior. (Photos by Trevor Marten)
“We wanted people to feel like they are somewhere special, somewhere unique. We wanted people to come in and be able to hang out all night,” said McGill.
As for the cocktail menu, Jones strives to make it as unique as the interior.
“Whenever I bartend, I want to do something that people haven’t seen before. Whether it’s a technique or flavor combo, I want to surprise people. I like that childlike joy of seeing something new,” he said.
The opening cocktail menu at The Sitch was devised by Jones as an introduction to the establishment and his bartending style. Jones, who spent time working in research labs before the bar industry, applies his breadth of lab knowledge to crafting elements for his drinks.
“It’s a lot of classic cocktails just through my lens, through my experiences,” he described. “For example, we use foams as a garnish for some drinks, such as a pinot noir cloud that goes on top of a whiskey sour, called the Big Apple. Instead of having really thick foam, similar to a whipped cream, it’s just wine that is aerated so it sits on top like a cloud. You get the smell of the wine. You get a little sip of it every time you take a sip of your whiskey sour.”
“Having access to things like a centrifuge, or other equipment that can be used to clarify drinks and just make them prettier or more effective, is really important to me. It’s just fun. I enjoy cackling like a mad scientist behind the bar,” Jones said.
Non-alcoholic “Aperol” Spritz from The Sitch. (Photo by Trevor Marten)
Those on-the-wagon might enjoy the non-alcoholic Aperol Spritz, made with alcohol-free aperol and soda water.
Off-the-wagon foodies will find unique flavors on the cocktail menu too, like with the Terra Firma, made with duck fat washed mezcal and tequila blens, mixed with sweet pepper syrup and bitters.
“That’s one of the most fun things that Sean does, he brings that food element into the drinks, and we’re able to cross utilize ingredients. He would get some of my byproduct, I would get some of his byproduct, and then we could create something out of that as well,” McGill commented, saying this will lend to the bar’s food offerings.
Jones pointed out the sheer amount of waste most bars produce. With every old fashion garnished by an orange-rind, a perfectly edible fruit gets pitched in the trash. Sustainability is key for The Sitch.
“Anything you could do to utilize those byproducts, saves you money and isn’t so wasteful for the environment,” said Jones.
The Sitch officially held it’s grand opening on Friday. When asked what impression they hope visitors leave with, McGill and Jones hope to carry on the out-of-this-world aesthetic and legacy of Marz.
“When you walk through the door, I want people to forget they’re in Lincoln… I want you to forget how your day has gone. Just leave all that at the door and live in the moment. A place where they can focus on their friends next to them, the drinks and the food, and not worry about what they have to do tomorrow. I want The Sitch to be an escape,” said Jones.
McGill agreed.
“I want people to leave feeling like they’re not in Lincoln anymore. They got to experience something really cool and unique. Something special.”
That’s The Sitch.
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Unless noted otherwise, Images are courtesy of Lincoln-based photographer Trevor Marten.