The Townie Bar Challenge: Shakespeare's

Shakespeare’s
819 South 1st Avenue
Iowa City

Last night, Bobblehead and I kicked off what we decided to call The Town Bar Challenge — an exploration of the so-called “townie bars” of the greater Iowa City metro area and perhaps all of Johnson County. Our plan: to visit every locally owned watering hole outside of IC’s downtown core in search of the best dive (and I say that affectionately) to enjoy a brew without being deafened by LMFAO hits, asphyxiated by Acqua de Gio, and crushed by mobs of scantly clad sorority blondes and the fraternity hounds on their scent. In a nutshell, as Bobblehead put it: “Illuminate the best drinking spots free of college douche bags.” Unless we decide otherwise, we will crown a winner at the end.

Equipped with my notebook and camera, hunger for dinner, and the craving to drink a couple brews and not have to worry about driving (Bobblehead kindly picked me up), we entered Shakespeare’s and took a booth. There were a dozen or so people at the bar or sitting at the tables within short distance to the taps. I have never been a fan of the large, crowded bar scene — The Airliner was as much as I could stand, and even that was sometimes too much — so the quiet, intimate, easygoing vibe was to my liking. Bobblehead ordered a Shiner Bock and I a Schlitz, a boca burger with fries, and a cup of ranch dressing (my crack). (The ranch was for the fries, just so you know. It is not like I drink ranch straight — in public, at least.)


Understandably, where there is a kitchen and menu I will be looking for vegetarian options. My assumption is that many IC establishments will have them, but those in Coralville, North Liberty, and points beyond will not be so veggie-friendly. (George’s Buffet, I know, does not have veggie burgers, which is a surprise.) Though veggie options will be an added bonus, their absence will not be a deal breaker; my focus is the ambience and beer selection. The good news last night was that Shakespeare’s had a few veggie options: a boca burger, a black bean burger, and, on a page that was taped into the menu, a veggie melt. The veggie melt sounded tempting, but I opted for the boca burger garnished with pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and ketchup. It was good, and the fries were fantastic (especially with the ranch). Unlike at a bar/restaurant chain, where one is presented a mountain of food, the serving size at Shakespeare’s was perfect. It was enough and left room for a couple beers.

I want to point out that last night was my first ever visit to the Shakespeare’s building, which, much like Bobblehead, I have always remembered being a bar. We were stumped regarding the previous name (which I felt was iconic for some reason; probably because I passed it millions of times driving along First Avenue), so we asked the waitress/bartender. She said it was Jerzes’ (sp?), but that did not ring a bell. I consulted Mervgotti and he said the same thing, but could not recall what it was before. Perhaps a few of the older patrons would remember.


Speaking of fellow patron’s, Bobblehead mentioned a rumor about Shakespeare’s being a lesbian bar. I am no expert on lesbian bars, but to me nothing about Shakespeare’s screamed anything of the sort. Shakespeare’s had a VFW or Eagle’s Club feel. It was well decorated and had a lot of TVs, but did not feel like a sports bar. It was humble and simple, but not bare bones utilitarian like a small town American Legion. Bobblehead felt the green light fixtures at each booth and the wood paneling gave the bar a retro look, but I considered it thoughtful and comfortable, reminiscent of my image of a quant neighborhood public house in Dublin. There were, I will say, a few butch looking women there, and at one point I thought t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said” started playing on the sound system. It turned out to be a different song, but my memory of it came from the deep recesses of my mind. (Admittedly, I always liked that song and have since listened to it about 20 times on YouTube.)

Speaking of the music, the selection was, as Bobblehead wrote in his post, stellar. It was leaning toward late-seventies/early-eighties punk and new wave, but not in that cliché, overplayed way. Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never,” Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” The Smith’s “How Soon is Now,” Sex Pistol’s “Holidays in the Sun.” At one point it jumped from Beastie Boys to Elvis to Joan Jett. A little after nine, the volume was increased for Mötley Crüe for some reason.

Beer #2 was a Fat Tire, which did not taste like Fat Tire at all. It tasted too light and seasonal, making me wonder if it was a New Belgium seasonal offering. Beer #3 was a Shiner Bock. In my notes I wrote, “I will just drink; not taste,” but I could not help making a few mental notes. It was thin and not bock-like. It did not help that the beer was served very cold. Since I do not drink at bars much any more, I guess I am spoiled by my own attention to serving temperature. Bobblehead was impressed with his Backpocket Slingshot. Backpocket was previously known as the Old Man River Brewing Company. They will be opening a brewpub in Coralville (thanks to a fat loan of tax money) sometime in 2012. Bobblehead offered me a sip and I wondered if Slingshot was the brewery’s German Pale Ale (which I mistakenly called German IPA) after tasting quite a bit of citrus. (Granted, it was not the ideal tasting since my mouth was contaminated by Fat Tire.) It is not the GPA, which is called Jackknife. Slingshot is, instead, a dunkel.

Before I forget I want to mention that there was a coin-operated pool table (seemingly standard at neighborhood bars) and a few arcades, including Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter. There was a Golden Eye pinball machine next to the bathrooms, which I thought was cool.

Overall: I really enjoyed my visit to Shakespeare’s. It was inviting and a nice place to sit, enjoy a brew and bite, chat, and catch up on the NHL’s four-conference alignment for next season. (Way to think outside the box, I might add.) The beer selection consisted of the usual suspects and a few local favorites, notably PBR, Schlitz, and Shiner Bock, which I thought was adequate. There were veggie-options on the menu, which my stomach liked. Basically, Shakespeare’s is a nice neighborhood bar I will definitely visit again.

The Quiet Man’s grade: B. (As Bobblehead mentioned, there will be no pluses or minuses; only solid letter grades or stars, which are easily convertible to numbers. He prefers stars, I prefer letters.)