“We’re doing phenomenal, and we never really had a grand opening,” Bill Bursee said Wednesday. “People have gotten to know us and word of mouth has really grown in Dunkirk.”

Steelbound Dunkirk opened July 4 in the Clarion Hotel on Lake Shore Drive along Dunkirk’s lakefront. Bursee said Dunkirk’s lakeside attractions were a big draw to Steelbound.

“You have the Pier, the Boardwalk, the Marina,” he said. “If you sit back there once, you’d understand why.”

The Clarion plans renovations, and Bursee intends to expand Steelbound Dunkirk alongside that. “There’s a lot of things in the works and a lot of it depends on funding,” he said.

Steelbound Dunkirk, open since July, will mark five years in business overall for Steelbound with parties Friday and Saturday.

Steelbound opened its first location in Ellicottville five years ago, later expanding to Springville, then Dunkirk. A five-year anniversary party is planned at each location Friday and Saturday, from noon to closing time each day.

Friday is Cinco de Mayo and the celebration that day will mark it. Steelbound will debut two new tequilas and there are food and drink specials all day. Free margarita glasses will be gifted to all who attend.

Saturday’s parties will have a Kentucky Derby theme. Steelbound will send four new bourbons out of the starting gate. People who wear fancy Derby hats can get drink specials and there will be other food and drink specials throughout the day.