The Lounge: Where the Back Door is the Front Door

My bar hopping days are far behind me.  Back home in Cleveland, area nightlife pulsed the loudest down in the Flats, a low-lying downtown plain crammed with bars and divided by the Cuyahoga River’s final stretch before emptying into Lake Erie. Back then alternative rock and techno filled the air on the strip and you had to watch out for flying men launched out of smokey clubs by cops with names like Ivan and Drago.

It’s a miracle I never got into any serious trouble during my old drinking days. Have you ever blacked out and woke up at a Student Socialists party arguing about markets with a communist in a Cat in the Hat hat? His name was Ian and it wasn’t pleasant. Or have an engagement ring thrown at you in a Denny’s parking lot by a bodybuilder named Todd because he thought you were trying to move in on his fiancé (I was not). Okay, that one was pretty funny and I’d tell you others but my mother is reading this.

When you get older and have a couple kids you start to change the kind of liquor establishments you patronize.  For me, I pretty much avoided them all together – I just don’t happen to be that big of a drinker. But recently I’ve been looking for a laid back neighborhood place to enjoy a beer or two.

Like you, I drive by The Lounge on Beechmont almost everyday and have always wondered what it is like inside. I know Bill had great things to say about Karaoke night. But I was a little too intimidated to simply meander into what appeared to be a very intimate establishment where I assumed everyone already knew each other, so it just never happened – until recently.

I messaged The Lounge on their Facebook page and told them who I was and what I do and asked if they would be interested in being featured in a story. Don, the owner, messaged me back and told me to go ahead and stop by, so I did.

Meet Don

I chatted with Don Gilman, The Lounge’s owner, at the far end of his bar around 4:30 when it was still quiet.  Don is cool and serious with a stoic but friendly demeanor. I got the impression right away that he’s a pretty stand up guy; honest and real.

A small group talked and exchanged laughter on the other end of the bar near the window. “They’re old timers,” Don said. “They can probably tell you more about the old days.”

Rock music played as I soaked in The Lounge’s clean and comfortable atmosphere.  The space is small but the layout is efficient. I’m told the bar top laid out under my elbow was made from wood pulled up from the old King Pin Lanes bowling alley that used to be across the street.

Along the bar top facade facing every customer are decades of Anderson hieroglyphics etched by the keys and pocket knives of lovesick bar poets and the occasional narcissist. Each initial, a cipher into the web of stories that have breezed in over the years.

Although I’m told the history of The Lounge goes as far back as the 1960’s, Don bought The Lounge in November 2016 around the time Anderson started to remodel the downtown area.

The Patrons

An older man with white hair stepped inside the front door and ordered a drink.

“What’s your name?” asked Don.

“Ed!” said Ed.

“Ed, I’m Don!”

“Hi Don”

“Nice to meet ya.”

Don said although he has his regulars, he’s more than happy to see new faces like Ed’s.  “You can always tell when a new person comes in,” Don said. “Because they come in through the front door. All the regulars come in through the back door.  In fact, we call the front door the back door and the back door the front door.”

That all checks out I thought.  When I parked out back I saw the back door was open, but I wasn’t sure if that entrance was for staff only so I went in through the front door just like a rookie.

Before buying The Lounge, Don was a commercial offset printer for 30 years.  “I just wanted to do something different,” Don said. One of the biggest perks for Don and his wife after buying the bar was the collection of friendships they have gained over the years.

Although Don has had to ban a few people from the bar, he hasn’t had too many problems.  “It’s a bar and people drink and sometimes people do stupid things when they drink, but trouble is rare around here,” Don said.

Don seems to have struck a wise balance to keep things under control in his bar.  “People ask why I don’t have dollar beer specials all the time. Well, I don’t want people punching holes in my walls and peeing all over my floor.  I’d rather have it like this.”

By now a couple more people have stopped in. Don leaves the conversation briefly to tend to them. He comes back drying his hands. “I didn’t buy this bar to get rich,” Don explained.  “I bought it to create my own place and earn a living. Sure, I’d like to make more money, but at what cost?”

“Hey there’s Kurt! He’s one of our Karaoke guys. How you doing Kurt, you want a beer?”

Kurt came in through the back door like a pro.

“Yea, please. Can I get a fireball, too?”

“Oh it’s one of those days?”

“Yea.”

Meet Kurt

Kurt’s been coming to The Lounge for a few years.  Just like me, he drove by it all the time and wondered what went on inside. “One day I just finally walked in and Don was here and I had a couple beers and thought it’s a pretty cool place,” Kurt told me. “I came back a week or two later and Don remembered my name.  It surprised me so I’ve been coming here ever since.”

Originally from the Columbus area, Kurt moved to Cincinnati about 30 years ago and has been in Anderson the last 20. He works for Fidelity Investments and is less German than he thought he was after a recent Ancestry DNA result revealed a more than expected British stock.

Kurt is in the DJ rotation.  You may see him on the occasional Friday night hosting the Karaoke festivities.

By this time, a few more patrons have made themselves at home while Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers jams in the background.  So far I think only me and ol’ Ed were the only ones to come in through the front door.

Stoking the Flames

I asked Don about the Make The Lounge Great Again hat behind the bar.  “My motto is if they’re not talking about you you’re not doing something.  It’s good to have people buzzing about you.” The hat was a way to stir the pot between Don and the prior ownership. “Naturally the old regime response is that The Lounge has always been great – and that creates a little competition between us.”

It also apparently forces people to take sides. “It goes both ways,” Don said. “You got some people who vowed to never come back since I took over and you got some people coming back because the prior owner left.”

Later in the night an older woman would tell me Don has done wonderful things for The Lounge.  “Before Don this place catered solely an older crowd, but now there is this really good mix of young and old. There’s just a better energy here now.”

At only 5:30 there were still a few hours until Karaoke started at 9.  I told Don I’d be back around 9 or 10. I shook hands with Don and Kurt and walked out the front door, picked up some Chipotle for my family, and headed home.

Karaoke Night

When I returned to The Lounge around 9:30 it was raining and from the parking lot I could hear that Karaoke was in full swing.  This time I walked in through the backdoor like a regular and it felt good.

“If I can make it there…I’m going to make it anywhere,” sung a woman with enough pizzaz to make Frank Sinatra proud. “It’s up to you…New…York…, New York!”

Almost to full capacity, the audience cheered. The tables and chairs along the wall are no longer empty.  Don buys me my first beer. I take my Yeungling and find a stool at the bar near the stage, which is the open space by the front window.

Bob is the DJ tonight and calls on the next performer.  From what I understand the Karaoke playlist is organized by an app that the patrons can access from their phone.  There they can choose their songs and add themselves to the queue.

“Come on up, Amber,” says Bob with a smooth radio voice.  With a few words of encouragement from the crowd, Amber, a pretty redhead, takes the stage.

“Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming ’round…”

As Amber sang Total Eclipse of the Heart I start taking pictures.  A younger guy next to me who wanted to remain anonymous (I’ll call him A) asked what I had going on with the camera so I told him about my project.  He typed “Beechmont Stories” into the notes app on his phone. “I’m going to check that out,” he said.

“A” has been coming to The Lounge for about six weeks.  “It’s a good little spot with a lot of good people. It’s a good mix of people, you know what I mean?” He pointed out some of the old timers and suggested I talk to them about the history.

I bought another Yeungling and headed to the back of the bar.  That’s when I met a happy man with a face redder than Santa Claus.

“Have you been coming here a long time?” I asked him.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” he replied with a grin so wide his eyes were almost closed.

“Are you the longest serving patron here?”

His face got serious for a moment.  “Man I hope not,” he said and nervously surveyed the room.  “Hell maybe I am!” he yelled out and rolled into a belly laugh so powerful that it caused him to take a step back.

Meet Ben Stocker

Ben was a welder for 30 years and now offers catering by roasting whole pigs in his hand made smoker.  His father, Bob Stocker, was an actor who performed mostly in plays and some commercials.

“I remember me and my dad going fishing with Nick Clooney and George Clooney back in the day.” When Ben’s dad wasn’t acting, he tended bar for a long time at Crowley’s in Mount Adams.

Ben is the kind of character that brings neighborhood bars to life.  He shuffles his feet when he laughs and grabs you by the arm during the punch line of his jokes.

A local Sheriff deputy made a traffic stop outside the bar on Beechmont – the red and blue lights spilled into the bar.  Ben said something to a woman at the end of the bar and playfully lifted his middle finger to the front window and laughed.  I had to laugh too thinking about Ben’s smoker and all the irony happening at once.

The Balance

Ben bought me a beer before I went to take some more pictures.  There truly was a great balance of different people enjoying themselves.  From the younger table of thirty-somethings to the old man in the Vietnam hat, the gamut of local character and life experience was wide.

If I had to guess, the generational ambience that everyone enjoyed was reciprocal.  The old likely reminisced through the young as the young likely took comfort in the character of the old.  Another measure of balance orchestrated by Don.

As I was leaving,  I saw “A” outside smoking a cigarette outside.  He took my phone number down and said he might be giving me a call about taking some family pictures.  Another woman gave me a few tips on some other local stories.

I’m glad Don gave me the opportunity to feature The Lounge.  Not only did he give me the opportunity to share a great story and meet some characters, I also found the friendly little neighborhood spot I was looking for.

I’ll probably have to follow up with Ben for his own story – or two.

So if you’re like me and want to get out for a little bit, but are a little hesitant to show your new face around an old bar, give The Lounge a shot.  New faces seem to become familiar faces pretty fast in there, especially when you walk in through the back door.

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