Thursday, January 12, 2017

Return to Every Bar in Lakewood

A long time ago, or at least it feels that way, I began a quest to go to every bar in Lakewood and share my adventures with the world.  At the time, I assumed that world would consist of a handful of friends and a couple moms.  I was pleasantly surprised that I picked up a few more readers than that.   In the two years that followed, I succeeded on my quest of visiting all 60 bars that had been open at some point during the duration of the blog.  You voted Every Bar in Lakewood Scene's best blog of 2014.  After these achievements I began a side quest, or more precisely, The Side Quest.
In August 2014 my wife, Kelly, and I opened Ohio's first geek bar.  This endeavor quickly used all my spare time and this blog fell by the wayside.  Many things went right and some didn't:  we learned and adapted to fit ours and our customers' needs.  The Side Quest became far more personal and special than we originally imagined.  The people who are part of our business and that come to enjoy it, make all that work worthwhile and keep us enthusiastic about coming up with new events and cocktails on a regular basis.  However, sometimes you still need to get away from your own bar.  So, after taking quite a break from the blog I will be resuming Every Bar in Lakewood.

I'm interested to see how my views have changed now that I've been part of "the industry" for the past two years.  You gain a bigger respect for the work that the people working in bars and restaurants do.  You gain just as much (if not more) respect for them keeping smiles on their face while dealing with the worst of us.  On the reverse side, I have a better feel for what I should expect and what's going on behind the scenes.  The bars featured will include those that have opened since I stopped blogging and those that have noticeably changed.  Anyone that wants a reblog just needs to ask.  Beyond that, we'll see where time and all of you take the blog from there.  It's time to drunkenly explore Lakewood again!



Here is a list of the bars that have changed since July 2014:
Brew 133 became The Saloon was replaced by Bottlehouse Brewery
Pug Mahones is becoming Salt
Quaker Steak closed
World of beer was replaced by The Detroiter but it closed
The Shamrock was replaced by East End Bistro and Pub
Pacers was replaced by Forage Public House
Spitfire became Funhouse
The Stache was replaced by Game On
Madison's was replaced by Griffon Cider House
Eddy & Iggy's was replaced by The Side Quest
Bonnie & Clydes was replaced by Yuzu, Izakaya Style Bar
Trio's was replaced by Woodstock BBQ
The Winchester was replaced by Birdtown Bevy which recently closed.
16-Bit opened
Barroco gained a liquor license
Voodoo Tuna opened
Kelly's Pub replaced the long closed "House of Bud"
Bottoms Up was replaced by El Torito 
Cerino's Casual Italian was replaced by Burger 2 beers
The Corner Pub closed is being replaced by L.B.M.

Is there anything I missed or anywhere I should go back to?


#eblkwd