It’s time to shine up your cowboy boots, St. Petersburg! Ride ‘Em Cowboy quietly opened on Sunday at 2451 Central Avenue, in the heart of the city’s Grand Central District.

The country bar occupies the 3,420-square-foot space that was formerly the home of Mixers at Old Key West Bar & Grill, which closed in June.

“We will have live music here Thursday through Sunday,” said Owner Greg Mikurak in an interview with St. Pete Rising. “We have live bands and DJs lined up for the next two weeks.”

According to Mikurak, Ride ‘Em Cowboy offers a much more diverse mix of tunes than your average country bar, with DJs playing mashups of country and electronic dance music to get the crowd on its feet.

“We always want to have a mix of country in there,” Mikurak said, adding that he’s booked Gaspar Benegas, a popular musician from Argentina, which has a strong cowboy culture, to play on Thursday, October 12th. The show will be free to attend.

Mikurak says he doesn’t plan to sell tickets or even have cover charges for most live acts. “There may be a cover charge or tickets when we do some of the crazier stuff in the future though.”

For customers who’d rather have a more relaxed experience and maybe watch some sports, Ride ‘Em Cowboy has nearly 20 big-screen TVs and offers NFL Sunday Ticket for viewing football games.

“We’ll have live music a lot, but we’ll also have karaoke night, comedy night, and a bunch of other stuff,” Mikurak said.

Customers can also just hang out on the patio and play games such as cornhole and ring toss.

While they do so, they can enjoy one of several specialty cocktails, such as a homemade sarsaparilla with root beer candy. Other drinks will be topped with cotton candy and even “boozy whipped cream,” said Mikurak, adding that there will also be alcoholic slushies and cocktails on tap.

“Right now, we’re just like, ‘Come check out the place,’” he said. “We want to show off the cool new vibe of what we’re bringing to Grand Central.”

The food menu includes light bites as well as heartier options such as burgers and chicken and waffles. Food is served in to-go containers, for the most part. “It will be almost like a food truck — that kind of feel,” Mikurak said.

Ride ‘Em Cowboy is open seven days per week. Operating hours are 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Follow Ride ‘Em Cowboy on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on grand opening plans, drink specials, and live music announcements.