Monday, May 27, 2013

Bar #39: Kenilworth Tavern


A lot of thought can go into which bar you want to go to on a given night. Are you hungry? Do you want a loud or quiet night? Does the bar have a claw vs claw game? The trick is don't over think it because plans can change in an instant. This week the kitchen was closed so we went next door to bar #39 Kenilworth Tavern.
I couldn't start drinking on an empty stomach for long. After finding out the kitchen was both closed and cordoned off I went next door and found what I was looking for.

The Kenilworth is a sports bar that remembers when the Indians were getting good and when Browns fans only had one rival to hate (1995.)  They have a handful of interesting things up on the walls including a Bud car hood. They have plenty of TVs to watch the game you want, today included skateboarding.

The Kenilworth Tavern is owned by an older Greek family. Their menu is setup so that everybody that shows up is going to have something they want to eat. These options include some salads made by a mad cook, vegetarian options that teach us the valuable lesson that turkey is the other white beet, and a multitude of wing flavors. I got their cajun wings, which were amazing. It was one of my favorite wing/sauce combinations I've had in Lakewood. I ordered their suicide sauce on the side to try it out. It was good, it doesn't give up taste in exchange for heat.
The beer options are fairly standard; primarily your corporate options with a little Great Lakes and craft to tide the rest of us over. I tried a bottle of something different, glucose free. Redbridge is made by Anheuser Busch it tastes like beer, mostly. There's a funny taste to it, not necessarily bad but not something you'd choose to add to it. If you can't drink glucose than you won't mind this.
The Kenilworth Tavern uses what is becoming a well known trick to getting more people in the bar, good looking female bartenders. They are appearing more often now in the bars that in the past would have had some old bartender that only believes in serving beers or shots and like to push the ice into the glass with his fingers.  I've also seen other bars where this seems to have been a part of their turn around. Question for the women out there.  Does having a good looking male bartender affect your decision on what bar to go to? You're not going to get any complaints from me as long as the ladies can also do their jobs well; and I didn't have any tonight. My bartender/waitress was able to help me figure out which wings I wanted and let me know what was going on with their claw game.

The greatest of all claw games is usually in the Kenilworth Tavern. You don't know if you have what it takes until you are chasing something that can run away. This bar has a lobster claw machine. You put your money in.  Then try to chase down these red not-so-plush toys.  If you succeed, the Kenilworth will cook it up for you (possibly for a fee.) These lobsters were unfortunately wily. They decided that being boiled alive is a worse choice than most. The lobsters began clogging the filtration system and dying off every night. The claw vs claw game is now in the shop until the problem is fixed.
I met the Kenilworth Tavern softball team.  They are currently undefeated. They want the rest of the softball teams to know that they are best.
I have no complaints about the bar I ended up at this spring evening. The food was good enough to make me plan on going back. The service was good and quick. The beer options gave everyone an option even if they're allergic to glucose. Overall this bar wasn't my first choice. Once, I gave it a chance I didn't need to try anywhere else. You should head over to the Kenilworth Tavern, bar #39, it might just be the last bar choice you'll need to make.

Yeah, Kenilworth had Shaq!
18204 Detroit Ave
216-226-6882


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