Bar #50 Five O'Clock Lounge

One of the trademarks of the Lakewood dive bar is history. When you walk into one of them, they carry the wear, mementos and even the people from their decades of service. They have the layers of what made them unique from each generation that drank in their walls. One of our best examples of this in Lakewood is bar #50, 5 O'Clock Lounge.

The Five O'Clock Lounge is kind of amazing. The walls are adorned with neon signs, old pictures and music posters, and a piano. The booths, bar and stools are vintage and in great shape. There's a second room with a stage and pool table. The Five O'Clock Lounge feels the type of bar where punk or blues grew up. There is a large patio out back but permits have not made it through at the time of this blog for the allowance of drinking there.

The service was good. They were training a new bartender. There weren't any problems with her and their primary bartender was both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about good beer.

The beer selection was adequate. It was primarily domestic and cheap hipster beers but there were some nice options behind the bar. Normally, you'll be able to find a craft beer on tap as well.

There were some chips but they don't make food here.

We played their customized shuffle board game. We set up a poorly working game where we had three people playing but only two scores being kept. Whichever color slider you were using determined which team you were scoring for. It meant you might have scored the least points during the game but you could still be on the winning side in the end. Beer made that ok.

We went on a slow night where the stereo types of the bar stood out. As a dive bar requirement there was an old guy at the end of the bar. The rest of the patrons had tattoos and gauges. Everyone seemed friendly enough. I have found in my travels that the bars with the biggest jerks are the ones where the people are the closest to what society says they should look like.

The Five O'Clock Lounge is everything you want out of a dive bar. Your surroundings reflect the history that has passed through its doors, while celebrating what this bar is made for. The beer is the beer they want. The music is the music they want. The zombie walk that starts at the bar once or twice a year is the way they want it. The Five O'Clock Lounge is an unapologetic bar that has little it needs to be sorry for. The Five O'Clock Lounge is worth visiting and one you'll probably eagerly return to. Go check out Bar #50, don't worry they don't bite. Unless, that's what you want.

11904 Detroit Ave.

216-521-4906

Facebook

Random Stuff

First, I'll have a booth at the Spooky Pooch Parade this Saturday, October 20th. My dog daycare and training facility, Pawsitive Influence will be located in the back left corner. My wife's store Rustbelt Revival will have dog beds, hand made jewelry and vintage items for sale as well. She will be offering a discount, so it's worth the visit just to check it out. If you have a dog there will be plenty of free stuff and activities for your furry family member. Plus, there will be a bunch of dogs wearing costumes. Registration starts at 12:30 and the parade starts at 2. The parade will walk from St. Charles Green to Caribou Coffee and back. Check out the details at www.spookypoochparade.com

Second, “Facebook now requires page administrators to pay to promote updates if we want our content to be seen by all our fans. If we do not pay to promote our posts, only about 10% of our fans receive updates on Facebook's home page feed.

However, there is one thing you can do to keep receiving posts from your favorite pages. Hover your mouse on the "Like" button to the right of our name. In the drop-down menu select "Add to Interest Lists." Then create an interest list (and make a name for your favorite sites). When you select that interest list you will see ALL of our posts and you won't miss anything!” -Carnegie Museum. If you want to make sure you're seeing all my posts and those of your favorite Lakewood businesses on Facebook you'll have to go through all this now.

Third, let me know how think the blog is going. Am I missing topics you think should be addressed like bathrooms or the type of free peanuts on the bar. I haven't seen anybody give away free nuts yet. How do you like the shirts, are there any changes you would like to make them even better? Do you want me to come up with any of those 1-5 scales on stuff? Is anyone on Google+?

Also, we decided that hard cider goes well with bacon.  What do you think is the proper beer to compliment bacon?

Check out these links:

If you have dogs: www.pawsitiveinfluence.com

If you like Handmade Jewelry, Metal Smithing & Vintage Items: www.therustbeltrevival.com

If you are looking for Wedding/Shower Invitations, Favors & Photography: www.rockpapercutpress.com

 

If you are looking for print design services such as logos, advertisements, promotional materials, etc.:

www.rockpapercut.com

These pay for the blog and the beer I have to drink to make it possible. So check them out and I hope to see you on Saturday.