the summer too shall pass

I've been pretty lame this summer, deciding to be super American and drive my car everywhere rather than ride my bike at all. Continuously blasting fake cold air in my face has taken its toll on my psyche, however, so last Tuesday, when the air cooled off a bit, I got on my bike and headed downtown. I realized it had been forever since I've taken time to enjoy an evening on Market Square, so with no plans, I biked up Gay Street to see what would unfold.

Divine providence would have it that The Pol was window shopping at Noveau Classics, because that is apparently what the Pol does when he locks himself out of his apartment. We decided to go have a drink on the roof of Pres Pub because he hadn't been up there yet.

Once on the roof, we were able to find a table close to the Square. The weather was pitch perfect and from the stage, there were jazz musicians playing. We couldn't tell from there if it was an official performance or some buskers, but there were spectators below, enjoying it all the same.

After our drink, we walked out into the Square where The Pol ran into a freshman he had met a few days earlier, and a group of his friends. They would be starting class the next day. Even if no one told me they were freshman, I would have known because one proudly wore a bright orange lanyard around his neck featuring his dorm key.

As the jazz played and I breathed in the sweet, autumn-like air, I was a little jealous of the group of new students. Walking around a bustling downtown Knoxville in college wasn't an option during most of my college experience, let alone before my very first day of class. I looked into their cherub faces, into their deer-in-headlight eyes, and decided it best not to tell them how lucky they were.

As they walked off, The Pol and I sat on a bench to listen to the rest of the set. It was then I realized the trumpet player was my old landlord, Vance Thompson, who is the director of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. When they finished, he thanked the small crowd and said they would be playing every Tuesday until September (or maybe through September, I'm not quite sure).

So if you've been hiding under an air-conditioned rock all summer like me, I encourage you to take a stroll through Market Square this Tuesday evening and have a listen. Even if it's hot, the tunes are sure to be coooool. 

sunday afternoon

lemon in a Pabst
sunlit bubbles floating up
how you wink at me!

I composed this on the Backroom BBQ patio in ode to the "Knoxville Corona" (which for the uninitiated is a PBR, preferably draft, with a lemon or lime).
Try it sometime when it's warm outside and you're broke.

Pubby Buddy

Just wanted to say that Pres Pub is now offering the "Pubby Buddy."

Before you get your shorts in a wad, this isn't some random guy to come shoot the breeze with you during your first 1.5 beverages at your favorite local pub. The Pubby Buddy is a whiskey (or whisky) shot and a PBR for $5! Pint night look out!

To you and yours this holiday season:

A Knoxville Corona




CHEERS!

Get your brew on

Have you gotten your tickets for Brewers Jam yet? It's this Saturday from 1-7 p.m. at World's Fair Park, and tickets are $30 if you purchase them before 10 p.m. Friday. After that, they go up $5.

I promise you, $30 is nothing when you see the awesome lineup of brewers who will be around. My tip is to show up early before they run out of their best selections. And if you're a lightweight like me, there's plenty of food vendors to take the edge off. And music! Don't forget the music.

The sponsors of Brewers Jam also want to make sure you're safe, so they're partnering with Green Car Shuttle Service to run a FREE shuttle from the parking lot of Aubrey's restaurant at the Landmark Center at Papermill and Northshore to the festival and back. It will run every 30 minutes until every last person has been shuttled. If you'd prefer to do door-to-door service, Green Car is offering 50 percent off fare.

Oh, and Marty Velas digs Brewers Jam. And it's for a good cause.

Seriously, there's no excuse to miss it. The weather is supposed to be a gorgeous partly cloudy 82-degree day, and the Vols are out of town. I plan on running the Race For the Cure in the morning before grabbing a quick shower, TiVoing the game and heading down to WFP. See you there!

living in the ghetto? enhance that mood!

I saw this at the Western Ave. Pilot, or, as I'm starting to lovingly call it- Ghetto Pilot. "Neuro Fuel" apparently gives you "Motivation" and "Happiness" with its "Mood Enhancement Formula." Yes! Judging from the unmotivated characters hanging around Ghetto Pilot they'll be selling caseloads of it.

Does anyone else feel like recently a lot more of this kind of crap has appeared? Is the "energy drink" industry is really pushing the envelope of legal drugs? Or is it just misleading advertising?

I guess I figure I get enough chemicals in my body from good ol' Knoxville air without putting Neuro Fuel in there.

crown and goose reviewed

if you read this blog at all, and i'm sure you do, you know that we've been anticipating the official opening of the crown and goose for a while. thursday night, several contributors marched off to the 'gastropub' to sample its original brew and cuisine.

one thing that can be said for crown goose is that they spared no expense in design and construction. aesthetically, it feels just like your neighborhood pub should: bare brick walls (one of which has a mural of the bar's logo ), generous horseshoe shaped wooden bar, extravagant beer garden. the place even has its logo on every pint glass. what would an authentic british pub be like without branded pint glasses?

the food was very good as well. we had bangers and mash with blue cheese macaroni. both dishes were very tasty. but it was not exactly pub food. though i was anticipating a higher end pub menu, i didn't realize how high brow the c&g had in mind. entrees were $20 and higher. but the menu is also extensive (i.e. french and english cheese plates, mussels, etc.) and they do have smaller plates priced at around $7 or $8. for quality, it was very good. but i'm not making this my neighborhood pub for the food.

the beer was excellent. they have three home brews: a bitter, a stout, and an ipa. unfortunately, all they had on tap for nearly the whole evening was the stout--which was delicious. it being opening night, it seemed that c&g was still working out quite a few kinks. the service was really bad. there's no doubt that the servers were trying their best to meet demand, but the place was just overrrun. and they were having issue with the kegs, thus no bitter or ipa (they finally got the bitter up later, i enjoyed it as well). they have an extensive list of domestic and imports on tap (these also ran dry during the evening) and unique specialty drink list. i was not disappointed by the beer i drank.

overall, i really liked the place and generally enjoyed myself there. but i should note a few things i didn't like, some of which i already stated.
1. the service. it was was horrible. i know it was opening night and they need to get used to themselves. but, we waited over half an hour for a beer. so you might give the place a month to settle in. i'm sure they'll be up to snuff in a few weeks.
2. the price. i should have know better when a place calls itself a 'gastropub.' and generally, i'd say its worth the price tag for the food you're getting. unfortunately, this makes the place a little exclusive. and if there is anything a pub should be, it is NOT EXCLUSIVE. they do run a special around 6:30pm (subtract a dollar from the $4 you'll spend on a draft), which makes the place still a decent place for a pint.
3. exclusivity in the old city. this is pretty much an extension of my previous point. enjoy the redundancy. as i was preparing to write this post, i got online to see what other people were saying about the gastropub. mostly they believe that the c&g is exactly what the old city needs. if it can put itself on the map with fine dining, the old city could became knoxville's entertainment district. let me be unambigous, i'd like to steer clear of any sort of critique based on 'i don't like it because it's new and nice' and i'm not against this place because it is different than many old city establishments. i like that this place is in the old city. i really like that the owner, jeffery nash, put up a significant amount of his own money and effort to make the place look amazing and have a fantastic menu--he really did a great job. i like that it brings a diversity of establishments to the area. i don't like the idea that this will somehow be a springboard to the make the old city an ok place to hang out. my distaste is more with the clientèle at the c&g than with the place itself. one person told me, "wow, this place is great. this is exactly what the old city needs to get people to finally start coming down here." i know that this will paint me as a stuffy and trite old city rat, but the area has been pulling in people for awhile. admittedly, many are young or still in school. what the above commenter should have said was, "this will pull in a crowd of people more like me." great. like i said, any kind of diversity is welcome.

one of the things i like about the old city is its uniqueness. some places are just outright weird. i believe the c&g adds its own character to the mix. however, i hope it doesn't become the development that brings in a new, more streamlined old city. if, in a few years we need to make signs that say: "keep the old city weird," i'll lend my support.

go to the crown and goose. enjoy yourself. i give it 7.5 wigs.
[sorry stan, the wigometer only has whole wig ratings, so i rounded down. ck]

crown & goose

a brief follow-up to ck's earlier post. the crown and goose's website is up. the gastropub itself will be open to the public on march 6th. if the bar's atmosphere is a half as good as their website design, then i will dub this place 'stan's tavern of choice'--a position coveted by all local establishments. actually, both of those statements are lies. good atmosphere (and beer, and food) always trumps website design and no one cares to have me as a regular. trust me.


Update: To see the Wigshop's full review, click here.

Tap Into Good Times

For my first review I am taking on a place that is near and dear to my heart. A place that has taken much of my money and in return given me a safe haven and place of rest. I am of course speaking of Downtown Grill and Brewery, or DTGB’s in my own shorthand.

Its Knoxville’s premier (only) downtown micro-brewery. The food is great (they fry really well) and the beer is always cold. I spend typically two- to three evenings a week in this hardwood, brass, and copper haven that seats hundreds and yet can be as intimate as a romantic walk across the Gay St. bridge (that is until you realize you’re in south Knox by a crappy hospital but I digress).

Happy hour provides $3.95 chicken baskets, $4.25 Nacho’s, Half pizza’s, Beer Cheese & Pretzels, Chips and salsa, and most importantly $2.00 PINTS UNTIL 8:00.

The servers are great, Andres, Shaggy, Butch, LT, Mahini just to name a few, and the Manager Dan Goss (no relation to Buzz) has everything well under-handle.

The best part, at least in my opinion is, the Weekly Poker Tourney. Mondays at 6 and 9 you can find me with a green visor and plaid vest hustlin’ up a buck. Well it’s a free roll and they took my visor but I’m still there. I’m on my way to 50,000 points and then I can play the big boy game on Sundays. It’s $2 pints while you play as well.

Oh and Tuesday nights are $1.50 pint night from 9:30 on it’s a great deal. Anyways, I love this place, I have one of the mugs (meaning I get more beer) that Stan got for me a couple of years ago and I have really gotten my moneys worth.

Ok I’m done but seriously, go. It’s on Gay St. next to Sapphire.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Wigs on the Wig-o-meter

gastropub?

Those of us who frequent the cigar shop on Central Ave. have noticed renovation efforts across the street for several months. The guys at the shop, Chris and Jared, have their ears to the ground for all things Old City and told me last fall that they had heard that "a British pub was going in there." Unfortunately, I missed my scoop and read all about it in this week's Metro Pulse.

Apparently it's going to be sweet. I won't rehash what you can read in MP but I will hit the highlights:

It's called the "Crown and Goose" named after a well-known pub in London. The "gastro" part of the pub means that it serves a full menu, like its namesake. The owner is actually English, and he owns the building it will be in. So chances are the pub will be done right and not go out of business in six months. The pub will have doors that will completely open up to the street in nice weather. Cool! And it will have a beer garden (not exactly English, I know) out back which will offer an alternative to Back Room BBQ's courtyard for those late summer nights discussing everything (we'll have to give it a try when you get back, Will).

So cheers to the Old City for the start of its [third?] renaissance. The appeal of that part of downtown is widening beyond the college crowd. Another element of this new Old City appeal will be the Cigar Bar part of the Knoxville Cigar Co., which is tentatively scheduled to open at the end of this month. True to form, yours truly and the majority of the Wig Shop writers will be there for the opening. We plan to bring you an exclusive on this welcome addition to the Old City (and not let those guys at Metro Pulse beat us again).

you know what i really like...?

pub dogs at union jacks!

and now that distributors in this town have fully embraced sweetwater 420 (a delicious extra pale ale, one of my favorite beers), there's a tasty combo right there. i hope that the sweetwater influx doesnt cause me to get sick of it (kind of like what a hip, silly soundtrack like juno can do to some old faves). i liked that the 420 was a rare fruit and you could only get it during trips to ATL or north carolina. this steady availability is a little daunting. hope it's not ruined for me.