Now that it's May, those of you with
basic math skills may have noticed that there are only 8 more weeks
till my one year mark. Due to some slacking off and the addition
of at least 4 bars to the list, I'm behind. I will now be writing
multiple blogs per week in order to take care of the final 18 bars.
My final sprint will start with the alleged oldest bar in Lakewood.
I went to find out if they had learned how to be the best bar
Lakewood in their many decades of business. Merry Arts is bar #37.
Merry Arts and another bar shares a good amount of city
parking behind their building. Tuesday seemed to be a busy night
for the duo leading me to park on a side street. Upon entering I was
greeted with a tavern with wood paneling, a brick wall and tin
ceilings. They have plenty of TVs. There are two rooms with two
bars, the second room also has a cozy area that includes a couch and
ottoman.
We took a table in the main room and
were quickly greeted by a perky waitress that would never leave us a
waiting or wanting throughout the night. Her only downside was a
lacking of knowledge about opinions on their wings or beer.
They have a nice selection of beer, both
on tap and in bottle form all listed on their semi-up to date menu.
I went through multiple Brew Kettle's 4 C's. This as an overall good
beer, it doesn't rely on extra amounts of hops or spices. Instead it
is a middle of the line solid beer that doesn't carry any complaints
but also doesn't leave anything lacking. If you like one of
their draft beers, then you can take just about any of them home in a
growler!
They have a nice sized menu, which
includes an impressive amount of different types of wings. It was wing night, so that was my route. I got both the medium buffalo
and Parmesan garlic wings. The wings even without the sauce were
good and the sauces weren't bad either.
Merry Arts has darts boards. They also
have one of the nicer patios in town. It's all brick with a
fireplace. There's also a comfy padded sectional.
Inside, there is a claw machine. Near
the end of our evening a guy had decided to use said machine to grab
some random stuffed animals for unknown reasons. We decided that we
believed in him and quickly started chanting “CLAW!” We became more enthusiastic with every success and failure. After a
brief bit of flustering he rose the to cause and got two stuffed
animals. The second of these fought him back tooth and nail eating
up a dollar until it finally submitted. Clawman then gave his
booty to our newest Every Bar in Lakewoodite, Andrea, under the excuse
that his dogs will eat them so he can't take them home. They say at Merry Arts, "You can't steal from a pimp." But the pimp may give it away for free.
Merry Arts is a comfortable bar with a
good beer list and menu. There are seating options for all. Our
service was friendly and never left us waiting. The oldest bar in
Lakewood has created a solid bar that gives you what you want both
inside and out. I plan on returning to bar #37, Merry Arts, in the
future for their famous taco night and everything else they have to
offer.
15607 1/2 Detroit Ave
216-226-4080
We went to this bar during the Lakewood Wing Crawl organized by Pillars. The service at this bar was an absolute joke. We spent 15 minutes waiting for beers which means we spent money at their establishment. It is not like we were coming in for our 'free wings' then leaving. However, despite the fact we were paying customers we were not a priority to their wait staff in any way what so ever.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching several groups of people come and go receiving their drinks and wings while we sat at our table empty handed I approached the server and politely mentioned we had been waiting and some of our group did not have the full day to participate in the wing crawl. She said she did not forget about us and would be right there. The next thing that happened was her taking wings to a group of people that arrived after us which rightfully made every member of our 6 person group upset.
We spoke with the owner when we finally got our wings and he did not care that we had a bad experience at his establishment. He asked us what he wanted us to do fire the girl who was working? It was very unprofessional for the owner of the restaurant to throw his server under the bus. He did not care that we had a bad experience and I will never return. I urge others to not visit this establishment unless the attitude from the top of the ladder improves. Mistakes happen in food service and that is okay. Apologizing and doing what it takes to make a bad experience a good one is what it takes to succeed in customer service.
This was the second consecutive year we had a horrible experience at Merry Arts on the Lakewood wing crawl. Proceed with caution.
This is one of my favorite bars in Lakewood. I have gone many times and have not experienced the bad service that others are speaking of in these online reviews. Its a great place to have quality bar food and watch the game, which is projected onto a 60' screen. There are lots of old time Indians and Browns fans that frequent here which really gives the bar a feeling of home, community, and pride. Oh, and the wings are the best. Get the dry rubbed cajun - double grilled style!
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