An experience new to Chenoa is now open.
OB’s Cervezaria officially opened its doors at noon Thursday with multiple businesses under one roof, including food, golf, an arcade, slots, event space, beer garden and sand volleyball. OB’s features beer with guest taps through a self-pour system.
Chenoa natives Andrew Jolly, John Cerda and Dylan Cerda started the venture which can be traced back to a home brew set purchased online and the longstanding friendship between Andrew and Dylan.
“The whole beer thing started when I rescued him from North Carolina,” chuckled Dylan. “He’s an Illinois farm guy. We brought him back and started brewing beer in my basement basically.”
The Cerdas also own Chenoa Fitness Center just down the street while Jolly also helps farm.
Dylan gives all of the props to Andrew for brewing the beer calling him the “mastermind” behind it all. Andrew hit the ground running right off the bat after he started brewing with great tasting, fresh beer.
Something unique to the industry is OB’s beer wall featuring 10 taps, meaning customers can choose from 10 different types of beer.
“If you find one you like, pour a lot of if you find one you don’t like, pour a little,” notes Dylan.
This is an interesting way to try craft beer as you are not waiting for anything.
“It’s a really innovative, unique experience.”
In addition to the local Chenoa beer, drinks are featured from other places too. A business known as Hometeam Eats will be inside serving food. Popular items include pizza, tacos and burgers.
“They have a food truck here in town,” explained John.
Another highlight at OB’s is Iron Cave Golf which is a golf simulator that has been open for about a month. Visitors will notice several TV’s and can enjoy music.
A soft opening is taking place this weekend, meaning you may still hear a hammer in the background or see some work finishing up. A grand opening is planned for the next month. OB’s is open the following hours this week: Thursday 12-9 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and closed Sunday with more hours to be announced.
“We’ve got a lot of things to keep working on but it’s going to be a fun experience,” John added.
The building itself is full of history and is named after legendary Chenoan OB Streeper, who passed away in 2013. He served our country in the 15th Air Corp, 461st bomb group during WWII as a ball gunner on a B-24 and was shot down and missing in action for 87 days in Southern France.
Streeper started Special Service Inc. in 1970 which designed and manufactured rescue equipment in the building. He invented the pneumatic version of the “jaws of life” and taught rescue squads throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Colombia techniques for auto extrication of aerial rescue.
