&uot;We’ll be open, so this weekend we expect to get some people in here,&uot; A.J. Gators co-owner Jeff Sharer said Wednesday afternoon at his sports bar chain’s newest location on Washington Street.

The new location had a &uot;soft opening&uot; Wednesday ahead of being fully open and ready for business beginning Thursday.

Even as of Wednesday, the bar was being stocked, cell phones were repeatedly going off and there was an issue with a Pepsi machine. But the home stretch to opening is always this way, says Sharer, who’s been through this with seven Gators locations already in business around Hampton Roads.

&uot;It’s always chaotic,&uot; he said, &uot;Even the first two or three weeks, things are not always the way they are supposed to be and you have to work out the kinks.&uot;

Along with fellow owner and fellow Florida Gator fan, Al Zuhars, the pair’s downtown Suffolk restaurant and bar will be their eighth.

On 20-plus flatscreen plasma televisions, Gators features everything sports fans need with NFL, NHL, NBA and college football satellite packages.

Sharer said Gators will have daily lunch, dinner and late night specials as far as food and beverages go.

There will be live entertainment on weekends, along with karaoke, video and arcade games, and pool tables.

There are promotions on the internet and through coupons, but Sharer said the most common way people find out about Gators is from the good word of customers.

In August, in the middle of construction, Sharer said, &uot;(Suffolk) has the enterprise zone; there are all sorts of nice incentives for people like me. We’re in this for the long haul.

We think Suffolk’s going to get bigger and better.&uot; A.J. Gators is located near the intersection of Saratoga and Washington streets and will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com