Every Bar in Lakewood: Bar #24 Deagan's Kitchen and Bar

There is one bar that is always brought up, when the question of the best place to eat or drink in Lakewood is asked. This isn't because they have bar games, bands or have the cheapest whatever in town. Tonight, I see how they compare to every bar in Lakewood. Deagan's is bar #24 but are they the #1 bar?

We arrived at 7pm on a Wednesday. The bar was full without even two adjacent spots at the bar. It was vegetarian night. Of course there's a special Monday through Thursday so Deagan's is regularly busy. Deagan's environment is what one could call cool pub. The walls are made of wood and bare brick covered with chalk board beer signs, local art and even antique style light bulbs and fixtures. These combined features create an environment that is both trendy and comfortable. Which is good because if you come during dinner time you'll probably have at least a 25 minute wait.

We sat down and of course added an extra person. They were very accommodating and allowed us to add a chair to the table even with the space restrictions. Our waitress and food came often enough that it never felt like were were waiting for service.

I drank North Coast's Scrimshaw Pilsner. It was a good pilsner. It wasn't so strong that it wasn't easily drinkable but not so bland that you'd forget it was beer. Deagan's only carries higher quality beers, which makes their prices, starting at $5, more palatable.

The food was good. I started with their Bavarian Pretzel. Its dipping sauce was amazing. For dinner, I had the mac and cheese. It was ok. The cheese sauce was a bit too thin. Luckily, Kelly had the steak, (yes steak on vegetarian night) it was really good. They only have one type of chicken wing, with an amazing mixture of jam and awesome. I do miss their buffalo wing from the wing crawl.

One problem we did run into that night was the monologue. This is a threat to any evening of drinking and any of us could be the next culprit. The alcohol dulls that little part of the brain that allows you to stop talking and pay attention to the look on your friend's glazed over faces. My usual fouls:

1) High school cross country/track, there is always that little part of your brain that wants to talk about your entire high school sports experience in as few breaths as possible.

2) Dogs, this is actually a double foul with me. I work with dogs and no matter how much you like your job, nobody likes your job when you talk about it for 20 straight minutes. The second foul is talking about the funny things your dog/cat/child does. This is fine in proportional amounts but can easily become a half hour of talking about where your dog/cat/baby has pooped.

R!ch Cihlar, Pop Shop

3) The repeat story, a funny or exciting story that gets a reaction out of people is possibly the most evil of all monologues. Every time this story is told, it will get a little longer, probably still funny though. Unfortunately, your close friends and what-not get to hear this hilarious ever growing anecdote over and over again. Once, they have heard this story 5 times, they can legally murder you in the state of Michigan. (This is the foul in question this evening.)

I think it's time for all of us to admit that we all do this now and again. Once, we all agree that we're all secret monologuists, then we can agree that we are allowed to stop other people's monologues once they have gone too long. Right now, I'm thinking you can just say “Cut! Thank you for your monologue but I think we should now talk about cheese.” Change this as needed.

Post dinner Deagan's clears out a bit and more so resembles a pub where people can all easily converse with each other and hang around the bar.

This was hidden in the wall.

This summer Deagan's is opening a second bar in Lakewood. Its newest creation will be a wine bar in the strip, which includes Discount Drug Mart. Deagan's says, "We're looking to do a wine bar... There aren't wine bars in Lakewood. We want to do something that Lakewood is lacking." The food options will be "limited and simple." "We want to add more to downtown Lakewood. We love it here. If I could open 15 businesses in Lakewood, I would. Between the city and the residents, I don't have a single negative thing to say about Lakewood in my entire experience here."1

Paul Jacklitch, BWU

Deagan's has some of the best food in Lakewood. They have a nice atmosphere and decent beer selection. Any bar/restaurant that strives to be elite is one that you won't be able to just sit down without a wait at and one you where you'll be spending at least $20 but probably $40 on your first night. That in mind, you must go to Deagan's because it is probably better than where you were planning on going and it'll be worth it.