Joe Cirone weighed the odds of survival and knew his Willow Glen farm-to-table restaurant, Haymarket, had reached a crossroads.

“We were at about four years of operation,” he says, “and it was either I lock the doors, start putting white tablecloths out, take all of the restored/recycled furniture out, go silver service, fight to get the staff in for that, and pull myself back into the kitchen so we can maintain, or … ”

Or not.

After a brief summer shutdown to renovate the restaurant and redesign the menu, Over/Under Sports Bar was born. A non-traditional take on a category better known for bad American beer, high-def TVs and waitresses working their way through school, Over/Under focuses on reimagined bar food and craft cocktails. Cirone says he’s targeting the masses with his reincarnation rather than self-anointed foodies. The menu still features sourced artisan and organic ingredients, but at a competitive price point. Cirone also stocked his bar with a global compilation of scotch, rum, bourbon and whiskey.

On a recent Sunday, a party of three tested the brunch menu. The Chile Verde Breakfast Burrito ($10) sidesteps traditional carb-fillers for delicious homemade chili, cheddar cheese, green onions, crema and cotija—it had me doing the little-kid shoulder shake. The Angus Brisket, Bacon and Eggs ($14) might as well be barbeque French toast, which is much better than it sounds, and the Dry Creek Burger’s ($9) seasoning offers a complex stroke of heat.

“I take the same amount of pride putting a goofy burger and hot dog out as I would have put into one of the many crazy dishes we were doing,” Cirone says. “The effort is the same, the skill is the same. The difference is I have a bunch of people I’ll now see three times a week instead of three times a year.”

The bar program hasn’t take a step back, either. The Old Fashioned ($11) and Whisky Smashed ($13) both pleased, but the Pepper Le Pew ($12) paired a delicious amount of heat—pepper vodka and habanero—with sweet.

The dinner menu offers traditional pub grub—burgers, dogs, chicken wings and ribs—at less-than-average prices ($8-$10), and Southern inspirations can be found in the cornbread ($6) and fan favorite White Trash Fondue ($7).

“It seems to me everyone is falling into this unibrow cuisine for the South Bay,” Cirone says. “It’s all the same, and I wanted to get away from it.”

Over/Under Sports Bar 1185 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. 408.295.4800.