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Bar crawl: Rathskeller
Posted: Apr 16, 2008 in Things to do, Nightlife
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VENUE INFO
6:06.p.m.
Housed Downtown in the 19th-century Athenaeum, the Rathskeller restaurant encompasses a dining room, ballroom and bar. The long, narrow Kellerbar room is decorated with tapestries and animal heads, making it reminiscent of medieval halls where tales of glory were told. It's an appropriate setting, then, in which to send off Indy.com reporter Matt Gonzales.
Gonzo, as he was affectionately called in the halcyon days of INtake Weekly (now Indy.com the Magazine), is moving on to work for a well-regarded advertising firm, and a group of us are hoisting large beers in his honor.
6:30.p.m.
A wide staircase leads up from the Kellerbar, on the main floor, to a walled-in gravel courtyard. It reminds me of an exercise yard from "The Shawshank Redemption." A large party tent covers some picnic tables, but we opt for others in the sun. We're off the clock, can't help but talk about work.
"You know what I'll miss is being in close proximity to so many good lunch restaurants," Gonzo says with a laugh. "I'll miss the Fourth of July on top of the parking garage."
Employees of The Star gather annually atop the company parking garage to watch the pyrotechnics launched from the nearby Regions Bank. It's awesome, but risky.
"I've been hit with crap from that," says Indy.com the Magazine designer Mary Garrison.
"Flaming crap," adds photographer Michelle Pemberton.
7:24.p.m.
We're working on another round, and the stories are flowing. I'm laughing the way I do when I'm around people who don't need the whole story, just the punch line.
I admit that after working in bars, playing in them with my band, and writing about them for INtake and Indy.com, I've lost interest. But tonight I'm not worried about gathering material for my story. Tonight I get to enjoy the Rathskeller, lost in conversations with co-worker/friends, comfortable in knowing that I'll be leaving with the people who brought me.
Rathskeller
Where: 401 E. Michigan St., (317) 636-0396, www.rathskeller.com
Hours: 11.a.m. to 9.p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, 11.a.m. to 10.p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11.a.m. to close Friday and Saturday.
Details: Full menu, outdoor seating, smoking and non-smoking available, dancing, live music, television, MC/V/D/AX.
Plan B: Drink outside
Chatterbox Jazz Club
The Chatterbox Jazz Club does what it knows best: "talk, beverages, jazz." It hosts some great local (and not-so-local) musicians every night.
Where: 435 Massachusetts Ave., (317) 636-0584, www.chatterboxjazz.com.
Hours: 4.p.m. to 2.a.m. Monday through Thursday, 4.p.m. to 3.a.m. Friday and Saturday, 4.p.m. to midnight Sunday.
Details: Outdoor seating, smoking, jukebox, live music, television, MC/V/D/AX.
Old Point Tavern
The Old Point is cool no matter how hot the chili it serves gets, and the patio gets crowded when it's warm out.
Where: 401 Massachusetts Ave., (317) 634-8943.
Hours: 11.a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11.a.m. to 3.a.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to midnight Sunday.
Details: Full menu, smoking, outdoor seating, TV, MC/V/AX.
Old Point Tavern full menu? I don't know how it could be called a full menu...they don't even have a hamburger on their menu. It's the first bar I've ever been to which serves food but not a hamburger.