Sanctuary meets Speakeasy in new venue now open in Tuscaloosa

Two of Tuscaloosa’s most eccentric entrepreneurs have transformed an empty church on the edge of West Tuscaloosa into one of the city’s best venues for small plates, craft cocktails and live entertainment.

Matt and Nikki Ray have owned and operated Eat My Beats, the one-stop shop for all things audio, for 20 years. As already reported in the thread, A love of live music and interesting spaces led her to purchase the Conquerors Light Faith Center on 25th Avenue when her congregation was looking for a new place of worship last year.

It cannot be overstated how much work has been put in over the year and a half since then to transform this unique space into a restaurant, bar and event venue unlike any other in the area.

Nikki Ray told the Thread in an interview Wednesday that she and Matt have dreamed of giving their passion for live music a new, permanent home in Tuscaloosa and incorporating a restaurant concept for nearly a decade.

“Today my Facebook reminded me that I first made bacon-wrapped dates seven years ago, inspired by a tapas restaurant in Las Vegas,” she said. “We’ve had the beginnings of this idea for so long, when we first saw something in another city and thought, why don’t we do this in Tuscaloosa?”

The idea has only grown to new and incredible proportions since the Rays received city approval to transform Conqueror’s Light Church – built in 1920 as Willcutt Memorial Baptist – into what it is today.

“We knew before we bought this building that we wanted to open a place and call it Sanctuary because our whole philosophy and vision was to open a place where people could find sanctuary, whether it was good drinks, good food or good music,” said Nikki Ray. “When we found this place, it was a perfect fit and has evolved to suit the age of the space – a 1920s church filled with 1920s decor.”

Sanctuary on 25th – which celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday night and is now open daily – is essentially split in two halves: on one side of the building is a spacious restaurant, on the other side is a quieter but still large space with its own cocktail bar that can be rented for private events.

The restaurant area is cavernous and stunningly decorated, a date spot with about 125 seats and a small stage that hosts live entertainment most nights. Matt Jones was there Wednesday night to play at the grand opening and will play an encore Thursday night from 6:00-8:30 p.m.

The restaurant’s menu features Spanish-style tapas, small dishes, at affordable prices for dates, families or friends to order and share.

“We have a San Jacobos, a traditional Spanish sandwich with breaded ham and cheese,” said Nikki Ray. “The most popular so far is probably our bacon-wrapped dates, we have pork belly with Korean sauce on top, fried pork skins with chili-lime salt for dipping in jalapeno-pimento cheese.”

Prices range from $7 to $15, and additional offerings include lobster mac & cheese, street corn dip with plantain chips, chorizo-stuffed mushrooms, and more.

“The idea is that if you’re listening to music and drinking, you probably don’t want a heavy meal,” she said. “So a tapas restaurant usually offers these small plates that you and a significant other can order at least two or three of and share, and that offer a real taste of what we have to offer.”

On the other side of the Sanctuary, guests will find a quieter space with its own bar and restrooms, generously furnished with unique pieces the Rays have found on their travels together.

“This is all furniture we gathered from all over the region, from Texas to Alabama, in different vintage shops, looking for anything that looked like it belonged in a speakeasy,” said Nikk Ray. “Matt and I basically drove around the Southeast with a truck and a trailer and only picked up the furniture that we thought would fit in,”

The result is two massive spaces on either side of the building with more personality than one typically finds in West Alabama, inspired by establishments from Denver to Raleigh and Las Vegas to Huntsville.

From wallpaper supplied from the UK to an eclectic collection of paintings and other artwork, every room and even the four bathrooms are bursting with personality.

A dizzying array of drinks awaits you on the menu. Sanctuary has a cabinet stocked with several hundred bottles of wine, more than five dozen beer taps, and a long list of specialty cocktails.

Nikki Ray told the thread that she is a wine lover and that will be reflected in the selection, as both glasses and whole bottles will be available for the tables.

In total, over 50 beers are available from over 60 taps on both sides of the establishment.

The real stars of the show, however, are the “Seven Deadly Sins,” a collection of signature cocktails inspired by the ancient concept of cardinal sins: lust, greed, gluttony, pride, sloth, envy and wrath.

The desire is embodied by a cocktail of reposado, enriched with sugary chewing gum mixed with orange liqueur, agave and lime.

Envy is a whiskey drink mixed with blueberry amaro and lemon, garnished with a sprig of rosemary.

And every signature drink can be ordered as a non-alcoholic mocktail – Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience, Temperance, Charity or Diligence.

The Sanctuary on 25th Street is now open daily Sunday through Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4:00 p.m. to midnight.

“You just have to see it to appreciate it,” said Nikki Ray. “If you saw the beginning, this was just a shell of cinder blocks – all the wood, all the fixtures, all the furniture, everything that people see when they come in was built or purchased by us.”

And there’s more planned: the outdoor music venue is quickly taking shape, and a standalone tiki bar is to be built next to it.

“Come on, visit us and please be patient,” said Matt Ray. “We’re new to the restaurant world and have a lot of new bartenders and servers, but it’s going to be incredible.”

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