Located on the Corner of Gladstone and Cataraqui, is one of the few neighbourhood bars in this city. For a city the size of Windsor, there are aren’t more than a handful of bars off the major roads and in the neighbourhoods.
This bar was known for a long time as Jimmy’s Back Street Tavern, and made one of the best burgers in the city. I haven’t been there since I moved out of the neighbourhood back in 1999, so I can’t vouch for the burgers anymore (if they still even serve them).
Architecturally it’s your standard two story brick building, probably built around 1915-1920. It features some black tiles on the lower level around the door. Likely a late 1930’s early 1940’s facelift.
Back in 1937, it was home to the Hotel Verdi. Maybe it was them who added those black tiles. I would have loved to have seen it before the brick was painted.
I’ve noticed the lack of neighbourhood bars/pubs when back in Windsor as well. I suspect there were more in the past, but fell victim to car culture — which seems weird, because the best way to get home from a bar is to walk.
Well I can think of a few in my area without even running to the phone book; Kilroyz being the first that jumps in my head.
Unless you are in the burbs, ie. Forest Glade, South Windsor, you should have no problem finding a walkable watering hole in the core and older residential areas.
I think Kilroyz is an exception due to the GM plant next door.
Off the top of my head, I can think of This one, The Vic and the Southwood.
That’s a good start, Andrew. Then there’s Kildare House, Browns Breaktime Lounge, Purples.
I’d rattle off some more but I don’t get out drinking enough.
Do any of the neighbourhood bars have WiFi? That’s the mark of good pub up here (IMHO). I heard the Brick House on Ottawa does. Hey, maybe there’s one.
Now John, those are exempt as they are on Major roads. Tecumseh, Wyandotte,Ottawa, Lauzon, Huron Church, etc… don’t count. I’m talking about the true neighbourhood bars. Even places like Kurley’s on Erie are suspect as Erie St. is a destination in itself, however Kurley’s is out of the “strip” so it might be safe to include.
So what, why should they be exempt? They function as true neighbourhood bars even if some (not all – ie. Brown’s) corner onto major arteries. The absence of parking facilities punctuates this. Places like Purples may be on Tecumseh but it’s generally local walk-ins from the neighbourhood and Chrysler, not people driving there from the east end then going home again. It still serves its surrounding community with or without the perceived advantage of its location on a busier road.
True, but their location is a distinct advantage. The neighbourhood ones I was talking about are the one you would never know about unless you stumbled across.
While I would agree there is a perceived advantage to their locations in terms of exposure, that exposure factor doesn’t change that they remain primarily walk-in bars serving the surrounding community, not vehicle destinations. They may not have the level of obscurity afforded to your original example, agreed, but I still believe they deserve credit as the type of neighbourhood bars people can hang up their car keys, go to, and then walk home from. And people apparently do, otherwise these places would die a swift death without parking lots to take advantage of all that vehicular traffic perceived to give them an edge. If I brought up Maple Leaf or Kelseys, I could see you calling bull, but I don’t see the examples I put forth as being at all unreasonable.
I can think of a couple neighbourhood ones. There’s the Cry Moto on McDougall (between Tecumseh and Eugenie) across from the Windsor Stadium and Player’s at 1503 Langlois.
🙂 Ok John, I’ll give you that.
Hey Shawn – I don’t know if the Brickhouse (now called Rockhead, or something like that) still has wi-fi, but here’s a list (with no neighbourhood pubs, sadly) that Ted Whip compiled…
Windsor Public Library, 850 Ouellette Ave.
Mila’s Gelato, 500 Ouellette Ave.
Juice Express, 359 Ouellette Ave.
Coffee Exchange, 343 Ouellette Ave.
Juice Express, 359 Ouellette Ave.
Starbucks, 301 Ouellette Ave.
Milk, 68 University W., while not formally offered, users usually can obtain a signal.
Buda, 255 Ouellette Ave.
Bubi’s Awesome Eats, 620 University Ave. W
I must say, sitting at Milk, having a pint of Walkerville, listening to some good home-grown music and reading International Metropolis is one of life’s sweet moments.
It was known as The Star Tavern in the 60’s and 70’s.