When you have a bar in each part of town where the bartenders know your name and your drink of choice, you know you have a problem, well, I had that problem back in the late 90's early 00's. Eventually marriage and kids destroyed my ability to enjoy these establishments and drive home drunk. Maybe marriage is a good thing. Anyways, I thought I would go around town to review the best places to drink suds and have a ripping good time. Fuckin' A. Tonight I will start with Broad Ripple, my favorite back in the day.
The Wellington - A great little pub, and I do mean little, smashed on the south side of Corner Wine Bar. The same bartender was there from 1999 when I first entered the place until 2005 which is when I was told he quit. He was awesome. Every time I came in he offered me a free beer to try that he was putting on tap. There was always micro brews on tap like Alpha King and a good IPA with old standards like Guinness and Bass. They even have local flavor like Four Horseman beer, very good stuff. It was set up like an English style pub with stain glass and old style bar stools. Very cosy little place. It is probably the smallest in broad ripple and it attracts the snooty crowds at times but it is an awesome place to visit.
Is It Still Open? Yes, it's the only bar I go to when I visit Broad Ripple, which is not very often.
Best Memory? The future wife and I sat in a corner got drunk and planned our wedding. Which explains a lot.
More Info here
The Casbah - Ahhh the Casbah. I've gotten smashed there so many times I don't remember leaving half the time. In the old days it was a little hole in the ground (it's in the basement) with basically a long bar and a little section in the corner for darts. It was smokey, loud and really fucking awesome. Yassir and Ahmed (a Jordanian and a Syrian) manned the battle stations slinging suds to us little white devils speaking broken English and calling everyone Steve. Well, at least me and Mike and whoever was sitting next to me and Mike (usually it was a guy named Steve). No beer on tap but they had their own little version of a kamikaze that was just tits.
Is It Still Open? Yes, but it's pretty much dead to me, the re-modeled Casba was the beginning of the end, then Yassir and Ahmed took off around 2003 which made it even less desirable to go.
Best Memory? With Mike and The Godfather, they were all good times. Actually I just can't remember them, they are all jumbled together.
Could not find a website. Alright, just too lazy to look.
RIP - Henry Grattans - I would be stupid not to mention my favorite bar of all time. This little nugget was just east of the Vogue and it was my favorite drinking hole of all time. When the Casbah got too nuts and smokey, Grattans it was. The Patio was playing a shitty band, Grattans it was. I went there with my girlfriends and my parents. The waitstaff knew my drink and would sometimes pour it and have it ready before my ass hit the cushion. It was great. Not too crowded and not too smokey, a great environment. The beers on tap (I get a chubby thinking about it) Tetleys, Bass, Guinness, Sierra Nevada, Belhavens and my favorite (I get choked up thinking about it because it's gone) McCaffreys.
Is It Still Open? No, it was taken over by a owner who turned it into a Rock Lobster clone. It was March 2002. I lost my job, Family Guy just got cancelled and Henry Grattans was my little place to cheer up. Some a-hole came in and asked a bunch of questions. Even though I was drunk I realized that this little douche was buying Grattans from the same company that owns..shit, what's that English bar in Ripple? The same place that's on the west side? Shit, forgot the name, wait, Union Jacks! Anyways I asked her point blank. "Are you turning this into Rock Lobster or something?" She gave me a long look and walked away. Things couldn't get any worse.
Ahh Broad Ripple, it isn't the same anymore but sometime, someday, I will make a pilgrimage up there.
