Theme, every bar opens with one in mind. Beyond the obvious
putting together a place where people drink alcohol, enjoy
themselves, and spend enough money to make a profit, most bars open
with a vision of what will set them apart from the masses. Some
owners decide I'm going to make a place for people to watch sports.
Others want a bar with great food. Yet other owners want a bar
where people will get drunk on cheap booze. Regardless they all see
their ideas as unique and usually personal to what they, themselves
want from a bar. This week's bar opened with an obvious purpose but
had to fall back to one of the cornerstones of running a popular
business: the customer is always right. Bar # 45 is Eddy and
Iggy's.
Earlier in the day I had a conversation with Johnny about where we
were going for tonight's bar. It came down to me saying, “Not the
Iggy's on Madison with the little neon sign; Eddy and Iggy's across
from the Beck Center.” He quickly wrote down, “The Iggy's bar
(unknown word) on Madison.” I have a habit of showing up a little
late but this week I made sure I was on time. As you probably
guessed I beat him there.
The inside of Eddy and Iggy's is a light yellow with an old style
tin ceiling. There are lights and plasma TVs all over the place
forcing you into a state artificial entertained euphoria. The walls
are covered in St. Edwards and St. Ignatius sports items. That's why
they are called Eddy and Iggy's, just in case you hadn't put that
together yet. They even have a sign showing all of both schools
championships and the winner of their football game that year,
signified through the title of Holy War Winner. The bar crowd,
though sparse tonight, was primarily there to watch the Indians game.
There are also long rows of unique beer tap handles above the front
windows.
Eddy and Iggy's produce their own beers. They have a huge lineup
of beer options brewed through a third party brewery. Monday is
growler day if you want to want to take some home with you at a
discount. I was going to at least sample them all during my visit.
Turns out their brewery has been expanding lately and hasn't had the
space to brew the bar's beers, leaving me with only stouts.
Honestly, I don't really like stouts. I can drink them, say why one
is better than another and appreciate a good one but I'll rarely want
one. Instead I ordered Great Lakes Brewery's Oktoberfest. It's
crisp with a bit of fizz and tastes of fall spices. There isn't much
actual beer taste to it, but GLB's Oktoberfest is still enjoyable to
drink.
Well, Johnny still hadn't arrived so I ordered some food. I went
with their Sweet and Spicy Tiger Sauce Wings because with that name
how can you wrong. One way you can is by not having wings with
bones. I went with their boneless variety instead. They were good
and a little crunchy. The sauce is a bit spicy and smokey. They are
a pleasing choice. They are also small and an order will not
constitute a meal. Also, it's a little pricey for the amount of
food.
Johnny finally called me from Iggy's. He didn't seem remember our
actual conversation but it turns out the mystery word was “not”
and wasn't “is”. Unfortunately, he road his bike. Johnny then
had to ride back home and get his car.
Shortly after I finished eating he finally arrived and ordered his
own wings (plane) and Oktoberfest. I decided I need more food and
got funnel cake. It tasted good but was a little tough/chewy.
For second beer I went with Hala Kahiki Pineapple Beer. It's
brewed by Rivertowne Pourhouse out of the zombie capital of the
world, Monroeville, Pa. It tastes like pineapples, goes down smooth
but wasn't too sweet. In other words, since this beer is highly
drinkable and not a light beer, you will drink it quickly many times
over and become drunk far quicker than you had planned.
Johnny order Eddy & Iggy's Black Storm. It's a complex stout with the characteristic sweetness mixed with a duel coffee and chocolate bitter taste. It stays interesting from start to finish. It's tap is a black bear.
They have pay phone recharging machine. You plug your phone in
and then lock the door and charge your phone. The back panel of the
machine was unlocked. It also, tells you what music is playing and I
assume gives the option of changing it.
Mike was eventually our bartender. He was attentive and helpful
on a slow night. He works here once a week. He can talk a lot about
Iron Maiden, beer and baseball.
Eddy and Iggy's was originally and still somewhat is a high school
alumni sports bar for St. Eds and St. Ignatius High School. They
wore the catholic school girl or boys school uniforms for the first 6
months. Quickly it became apparent that besides fall Friday nights
the crowd was younger than expected and didn't understand the choice
in wardrobe. The bar now caters mainly to 20 somethings. They have
karaoke every night. Many nights people from the Beck Center make
their way over to up the quality level of singing a peg. You can
play Pac Man on a 101” projection system. I didn't realize this so
I didn't get to try it out.
They have a patio with tables, chairs and whatnot.
I'll probably be heading back because I didn't do any of their fun
stuff: karaoke, bar brewed beer, wings with bones, corn hole, beer
pong, burgers (They're supposed to have good burgers but I didn't get
one. The only person I know that's gotten one, said that hers was
frozen in the center. How was yours, let me know? It's good to have
a consensus.), giant projection video game, patio...phone charging.
Subtracting all the extra stuff and coming in while they're slow (the
weekends are packed,) I enjoyed myself at Eddy and Iggy's. The
bartenders were friendly and attentive. I liked the beers I drank
and their options. The food has its ups and downs but was tasty.
Eddy and Iggy's has so much awesome going on that I still need to try
that I have to go back and so should you. It is also my 45
th
bar.
17900 Detroit Ave
216-228-1212
Website <---Check this out. They have a lot of helpful E&I info.
