What's behind The Green Door?

Well Marilyn Chambers sure ain't there, but sometimes pretty wild stuff happens in The Green Door Lounge, on the backside of the strip mall at Thompson Road and Manker Street.  The Door is best loved by hardcore bar goers-- it kind of reminds me of a 60's bowling-alley lounge, certainly smaller than Marcus Schrenker's old living room but maybe only a little bigger than Bernie Madoff's prison cell, with a giant mirror on one wall to make it seem bigger, cheesy Wayne's World basement-type wood paneling, a small bunch of tables & chairs (no booths) and the bar along the other wall.  That's all there is:  no pool table, no stage or dance floor, no food, just a place to sit and drink and talk with your friends (or yell, depending on what song is playing on the juke box).  It does, however, have an unpretentious, undefinable ambiance that makes you feel comfortable there for reasons I have yet to discern. Especially during the day and to some extent all night, The Door draws people of all ages and from all walks of life, lured in by the cheap, stiff drinks, no-nonsense bartenders who git'r done, and the prospect of seeing old friends. The Door stays open later than most other bars and clubs in the area, so it's a place of last resort when you don't wanna go home.  Like Times Square, most southside party folks pass through there at least once in a while, in order to have that last drink, or make that last try to hook up with someone, or to have that last cup of coffee in a futile effort to sober up before trying to get back to the house....

UPDATE, 03/22/2013:  Green Door has been bought by Art & Tina, a couple of the partners who own the Gaslight Inn.  They've given the place a thorough cleaning (Geez, I always thought those wall sconces were dimmed on purpose!) and put in two big flat-screen TV's that were actually manufactured in this decade.  Art hates paying credit card fees, so like the Gaslight, the Door is now cash-only but with a $2 ATM available.  So far none of the good parts have changed, including the potency of the drinks!  Hopefully they won't go the way of the Gaslight's weak-assed wells.  The Door has already had a number of good beer and drink specials, though, so I'm hopeful!

UPDATE, 09/27/2013:  Happy Days!  They're once again accepting credit cards.  I believe they don't open until like 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon on weekdays, but they do open at noon on the weekends.  Credit card fee is now 50 cents per tab, better'n before.....

That Place in Greenwood-- Dr. Jekyll by Day, Hyde at Night!

I think the official name is now just That Place, since technically it's not in Greenwood now that they moved into the big strip mall on Emerson north of County Line Road.  That's a good thing if you're worried about being stopped by the cops-- The Indy Metro PD is much busier and more thinly spread than the Greenwood constabulary just across the county line, so if you're headin' north you might not even see one copper on your way home.  That Place is a Big Place which looks like it could seat maybe 400 people (wait a minute, the Fire Marshal's sign may read 252, if I remember right.  Anyway, it's big.) It's a true sports bar, with something like 13 satellite TV screens including a movie-sized projection screen on the wall behind the big ol' bandstand, tuned to every kind of sport imaginable. They have NTN game consoles, too, so you can play trivia quizzes if that particular screen isn't being monopolized by card game players.  Damn that Texas Hold'em!  There is something for everyone, like pool tables, arcade games, and a side room that has a two-lane miniature bowling alley! (Remember duckpin bowling?  Yeah, it's kinda like that.)  There is a humidor if''n you like your seegars, and a wall of maybe 15 draft beer taps with brews ranging from the usual Americans to exotic imports and local microbrews (the Sun King Oktoberfest is yummy!).   During the day the spaciousness of the place is rather intimate, like being one of the special insiders who get to roam Disneyworld when the park is closed.  At night, though, That Place is a happenin' place, as in if you aren't careful how you speak to people or whom you bump into, somethin' might be happenin' to YOU!  It gets pretty crowded, and although the high ceilings may mitigate the cigar smoke, the lack of acoustic padding combined with the hard non-carpeted concrete floors make my conversations go something like "HUH?  WHAT?" and that's when the band's not playing. (But then, that's how most of conversations go anyway.)  I understand, though, that you young people kinda like that sort of atmosphere, right?  Ha! Hey, the bar food's good all the time, at least.....

LJ's-- an old traditional watering hole.

LJ's, on Meridian Street south of Sumner (I think) is what you see in your mind when you think of "old fashioned dive bar."  It's kind of dark inside, has a big mirror behind the bar, and has a small dance floor and bandstand for use on the weekends.  Larry Johnson, the namesake owner, sadly passed away recently, but last I heard his wife and a couple regulars who became investors are now running the place. Larry renovated what used to be Lucky's, or Fonza's, or Doc Gainey's, or one of those names, some years ago when he bought it-- put in a number of new fixtures, new restrooms, and a deck/beer garden out back.  The restroom renovation was a little too ambitious:  they put two urinals and a stall in a space smaller than my bathroom at home-- being a 6-footer, when I sit down and close the stall door my knees touch it, and once a drunk at the urinal rocked backward and stepped on my foot!  Otherwise the place is pretty comfortable, with decent beer and drink prices, cheap if not memorable pub grub, and fairly friendly service.  The crowd varies from blue-collar types to some upper middle-class golfer types.  All in all I like the place, but it just doesn't inspire me like some others.... 

The Crowbar: A Phoenix Has Risen.

It's been a year or so since we visited The Crowbar Inn, in Trafalgar, IN on State Road 135 just north of SR252.  That last time it was a real challenge even for such seasoned adventure drinkers as ourselves:  the only vehicles out front were about 4 motorcycles, and not your garden-variety Shriners' Goldwings, either-- they were choppers of the type usually ridden by guys wearing either denim vests with gang colors on the back or those t-shirts that read "IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THE BITCH FELL OFF."  Well, I was packin' heat (although I dunno what use Sterno would be in a bar fight), so we went on in. ...And we were somewhat pleasantly surprised!  It was dumpy but comfortable on the inside, although you wouldn't have wanted to eat there due to the grunginess.  The floor had carpet that puffed up little dust clouds when you walked on it, at least the parts that didn't stick to your shoes.  Shortly after that the Health Department actually closed the place down and the bar's operator defaulted on her lease, so it reverted to Brian, the son of the folks who founded the place years ago....

Which is the best danged thing that coulda happened to the place:  Brian spent 3 months and I imagine a substantial sum remodeling the ole' Crowbar, and it is now a FANTASTIC place for ordinary non-biker folks to eat and drink, a great cross between a roadhouse bar and your basement rumpus room.. Three big-screen TV's can be seen from anywhere in the place, there are 4 choices of some of the coldest draft beer around, and the food, beer, and drink prices are amazingly reasonable. On this night, tacos were 25 cents and wings (like 5 varieties) were 3 for a buck, and both were deeeeelicious!  Brian has hired a guy who knows how to cook and ain't afraid to try new stuff.  Anyway, the next time you drive (or bike, or bicycle) from Indy to Brown County, plan a stop along the way at the Crowbar:  it's easy on yer eyes and yer wallet, whatever's in it!

UPDATE, 09/05/14:  Went there with The Little Woman and had a great time.  We split a grilled tenderloin sandwich and 4 hot wings (now 50 cents each).  That was one of the best if not THE best grilled tenderloin I've had-- it was only moderately pounded out, but was still tender and nicely browned.  They had seasoned the meat deliciously, and the lettuce and tomato were farm-fresh.  Dang that was good!

What Makes a Good Bar? Schneider's and The Shanty

Like the Darden Corporation (Olive Garden, Carraba's, etc.) and other commercial chains as well as numerous individual entrepreneurs, I've been pondering what magic formula produces a great bar or eatery, and two places I really like to frequent unfortunately do not immediately reveal their secrets of success.  Schneider's at Meridian School and S. Meridian Street (State Road 135) has been there for years without significant changes. It's in an old strip mall and has your standard old wood decor with IU and Notre Dame memorabilia on the walls. In a way, though, the aged (but not outdated) atmosphere is part of the place's charm.  I'm told that the place is a big hangout for Catholic parishioners of St. Barnabas Church, but other than the occasional haggard "I have 6 kids, Kill Me NOW!" look that I see on some of the customers, I can't pick 'em out.  There are few other places, however, that have a such a big crowd where everyone seems to know everyone else.  That kind of clubby chumminess makes you feel at home even if you don't really know anyone there. The food is decent and drink prices are reasonable if not a bargain, except for wine, about which I'll whine:  $5.95 for a glass of Barefoot in a neighborhood bar means they really don't want to sell wine, doesn't it?  But other than that, I love the place!

The Shanty, a little farther down the road in another strip mall at County Line Road and Meridian, is another little place whose charm is difficult to discern and yet we always have a good time there.  We used to drink with Heath, the proprietor, at Shigg's some years ago, but beyond his possessing a more than passing familiarity with a typical bar's contents, I did not believe Heath would know anything about running a tavern when he opened The Shanty, but he has happily proved me wrong.  The place is light and airy, with light wood & green trim (reminding one of the19th hole at a golf course), and big windows.  The staff is friendly, the pub grub is good,  and the drinks are very reasonable, with lots of good specials.  The clientele, also, reminds me of a bunch of middle-class folks who've just come in off the links at the end of nine holes, and they're congenial if not the glad-ta-see-ya backslappers you meet at Schneider's. I would drink at The Shanty every day I drink (which is NOT every day, I swear!), if it wasn't so darned far from my house. :-'(  Waah!

UPDATE, 12/18/2011:  Heath, the Shanty's proprietor, fell victim to the occupational hazard of bar owners everywhere-- easy access to free booze.  There was apparently a nasty scene between Heath and the Indiana Excise Police, which resulted in the bar being closed down and Heath being arrested for Public Intoxication (in a bar?) at 11:00 AM on a weekday (As Rex always said, if you don't start early you cain't drink all day!)  The bar is now called Good Times, not to be confused with 4 the Good Times, a gun-and-knife club near Fountain Square.  Good Times apparently retains all the goodness of the old Shanty, so I have great hopes for the new management.