One of the most eagerly anticipated businesses in recent memory opened its doors in Dracut on March 8.

Dracut Economic Development held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 26 for SEAR Steak Lounge & Cocktails, in the Bridgewood Plaza at 1794 Bridge Street.

Randy Richards and Caitlin Hannagan, the vested owners of STIR Martin Bar & Kitchen in Westford, announced in November 2024 that they would be taking over units 26A and 27A in the plaza, which formerly housed Furtado’s Eatery and Annie’s Antiques, respectively, to open an upscale steakhouse and cocktail bar. The word soon spread, and the anticipation grew over the next four months.

Extensive work needed to be done to combine the two units, but the work was well worth it, as the spaces are unrecognizable from their previous incarnations.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here,” Randy said, adding, “Things are going well. It’s sleek, sexy, and it has great food. People love the bar.”

The 27-seat bar takes up much of the space that used to be Annie’s. In total, SEAR can seat up to 80.

Randy and Caitlin brought in chefs Thomas Perrin and Mike Judge as non-vested owners of SEAR.

“Tom was the first chef we had at Stir,” Randy said. “He’s been with us since the beginning. And Mike Judge came from PRIME at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua. These guys know steak.”

The idea to enter the Dracut market arose after Furtado’s Eatery owners Tony and Brenda Furtado closed their restaurant less than a year after opening for personal reasons. Meanwhile, next door, Annie’s had been open only spottily for years.

“Mike knows Tony Furtado, and he wanted us to take a hard look at the spot,” Randy said.

Randy and Caitlin stress that SEAR is different from STIR. While the latter is more of a martini bar with food, SEAR is primarily a steakhouse with top-shelf drinks. (The pair originally opened STIR a couple of miles up Route 110 in Westford, then moved last fall to a former Chili’s location. The original spot is being reworked into SEAR Burger Bar.)

“STIR is more martini-heavy, and that goes to show how good drinks will bring folks in,” Randy said. “There are a lot of similarities with STIR, similar-style drinks, but over here we try to be a little more creative.”

“There are a couple of takes on classic cocktails, like the New Old-Fashioned,” said Caitlin, adding that STIR’s Espresso Martini won the People’s Choice Award at the Best of Boston.

“STIR sells 150 Espresso Martinis on a Friday or Saturday night,” she said.

And now you can get that award-winning Espresso Martini here in Dracut, as well as the Key Lime Pie Martini and the Premium Pistachio Martini, two other STIR favorites.

And, of course, there’s the steak. You can order anything from a 6-ounce Bistro Sirloin to a 30-ounce Porterhouse, as well as soups, salads and burgers.

For more information, email Searsteaks@gmail.com or visit www.searsteaks.com.

CAPTIONS (PHOTOS BY DRACUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT)

From left at the ribbon-cutting for SEAR Steak Lounge & Cocktails on March 26 are, from left, Jennifer Kopcinski, member of the Board of Selectmen and co-chair of the Economic Development Committee; Kara Curley of the Dracut Health Department; Alison Genest, member of the Board of Selectmen and co-chair of the Economic Development Committee; chef and co-owner Thomas Perrin; vested owners Randy Richard and Caitlin Hannagan; chef and co-owner Mike Judge; Joe DiCarlo and Tim Savage, members of the Economic Development Committee; Melissa Parra of the Dracut Health Department; and Karen Davis of Eastern Bank and a member of the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

The 27-seat bar at SEAR.

A dining area inside SEAR.