The Townie Bar Challenge: Shakespeare's

The Mission: Illuminate a drinking establishment free of college punks and d-bags. I'm sorry, I make no apologies for growing up in Iowa City and once upon a time, slipping my way through the orgy of humanity in the Airliner or Jake's on a Friday or Saturday night was something I was totally down with. But now, I'm 28 and when I want to drink, I want to drink in peace, quiet and a state of chillage uncluttered by hormones and Keystone Light, dammit. And out of this desire came The Townie Bar Challenge.

Basically, The Quiet Man and myself are launching a quest to find the best Townie Bar in the Johnson County Metro Area- we're including Coralville, North Liberty, University Heights- shit, even Tiffin if we get really crazy about it. We're going to go to all these bars, check them out, grade them and then after all is said and done, we're going to declare a winner. The Best Townie Bar of the Johnson County Metro Area. (Whether we'll get super crazy and hit every non-downtown Iowa City bar in the county has yet to be decided.)

We kicked things off tonight at Shakespeare's:

As long as I can remember, there's always been a bar here. Shakespeare's used to be called Jirza's but my brain keeps telling me that it was something else before even that and it was a big deal when the original version closed or was sold or turned into what it is today. (The Quiet Man said he would consult Mervgotti on the matter- maybe that'll shake something loose.) Anyway, Shakespeare's is a nice, comfortable watering hole in the heart of the East Side of Iowa City. It's color scheme tends to run towards browns, greens, reds and wood panelling that puts one in mind of a 'retro' bar, but Shakespeare's dials it back enough not to be unbearable. (To me, if you're going to be a 'retro' bar you either go into enough detail to be authentic about it or you end up with something totally unbearable.)

The first time I walked into Shakespeare's, I thought it looked like every bar I ever went to when I lived in Minnesota- complete with the Big Buck Hunter in the corner and I loved it. It was comforting a little taste of the Medium White North and a clientele that screamed 'townie' but not 'scarred, cynical, old townie that can't stand the sight of anyone under 30'- there was a broad age range in there that didn't make me feel all that out of place.

Food-wise, although I didn't partake last night (The Quiet Man did), is pretty good and well-priced. Beer wise, Shakespeare's has a pretty decent range beyond the traditional domestic line (Budweiser, Coors, etc.) I partook of a Shiner Bock (excellent), A Fat Tire (also good) but managed to be surprised that they were offering Slingshot- a dark ale from Backpocket Brewery which is moving to Coralville soon. The Slingshot was really good: I wasn't exactly sure if I was trying to be a dark ale or what it was, but whatever it's beer identity, it went down smooth and left just the faintest hint of hops at the back of your mouth. The Quiet Man thought it might be a German IPA of some kind- and if it is, then consider me a fan. People tend to go overboard with IPA's in my opinion and they tend to be hit or miss with me- some people get it right and other people, I mean come on now- I want to taste some beer in my glass, not just a mouthful of hops.

For whatever reason last night, Shakespeare's was also jamming out hardcore with the 80s tunes. I heard the original version of 'It's My Life' (done by Talk Talk) for the first time in the United States (I heard it everywhere when I was in France of all places. Not sure why.) And they slipped some Romeo Void, Sex Pistols, The Smiths, Pixies, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols into the mix- in other words, my kind of music. (The music thing will be an interesting aspect of the TBC that The Quiet Man and I might have to explore a little bit. We're not really live music people and not every bar has a jukebox- though we didn't exactly go exploring at Shakespeare's to check.)

Overall: Shakespeare's is a very comfortable bar. Perfect for grabbing a beer and chilling a little bit, it has a good age range of clientele (younger peeps won't feel out of place), doesn't feel pretentious or hipsterish and has decently priced food and decent variety of beer.

The Grade: *** out of **** (B) The Quiet Man and I decided to dispense with pluses and minuses last night, so consider a B a solid 3 out 4 stars- Shakespeare's didn't grab me immediately and make me want to live there but nor did I hate it. It was a solid, decent bar- worth checking out if you want to try something new.