Photograph by Thomas Crone
You want cheap drinks and interesting people-watching. You know you do. So take a field trip to Granite City with us for ethnographic study and two-person rounds that come in at startlingly affordable rates—like $4.50 affordable. This week, we set our compass to the East Side and enjoy some dayside and night-side trips to bars that reflect the industrial experience of the surrounding neighborhoods and the largely white, male, working class crews that haunt these spots.
Kopp’s Corner Too
618-798-9152
1369 Edwardsville Rd, IL, 62040
This was a happy place on a recent evening visit, our first time through the doors of this mid-sized frame roadhouse. Perhaps the mood was thanks to the springlike weather, which allowed the back screen door to remain open. The breeze at the end of the bar was a welcome one, as the night’s smoke meter had reached a full tilt, tough going even when compared to venues nearby. When sitting at the curve of the bar, looking out the window, the town’s main industry was visible through the screen door, the blue and orange fires of a nearby mill dancing a half-mile or so down the road.
The visuals didn’t stop there, as the neon lights of the neighboring diner were still flashing a few minutes after close; hearing that the diner shut down at 9 p.m. was a sad moment, as their Friday fish special was calling, with the smell of fried goodness wafting from next door. A pair of motorcycles rolled away from the diner, to-go boxes rakishly attached to the back of their bikes. Next time, an earlier arrival is called for, to sample the goods, which are welcome inside of Kopp’s.
Our bartender was the genial sort, volunteering information about the bar and its life, while some patrons offered a game of pool. Seven, eight people were enjoying this night, clearly regulars. Unlike other places that change on a dime when outsiders arrive, this spot rolled on with our presence. The only downer was hearing a mid-bar regular offer to buy the house a round. He paused and said, just a little too loud, that the two at the end of the bar weren’t in on the deal. A bummer, but not an unexpected one. Kopp’s was all right, just shy of too friendly.
El Gato
618-876-9290
1800 Delmar, IL, 62040
The last three films that I’ve caught in a movie house have been seen at the Granite City Cinema, a tri-screen, still-new venue in the heart of GC’s downtown. The city really took a chance on that venue, building it with development grants, now running the place after letting go of the building’s early operator. The idea behind the development was that the theatre could serve as a magnet, bringing locals back into downtown for a night, while attracting people from the immediate region, too.
Walking around the neighborhood after a show can be an interesting experience in “what’s next,” as the Cinema’s economic bounce hasn’t been completely felt yet, at least not to this frequent visitor’s eyes. After a night at the movies, you can imagine popping into a nearby tavern for a cocktail, a nightcap within walking distance; there with bottle in hand, the mind can bring the night’s film back into focus. As the crow flies, Elgato is the closest bar to downtown GC’s entertainment jewel, though it’s not, on a given night, a place that says “stop and stay.”
Elgato’s the type of place where a solo drinker can lose themselves in public. No one’s going to talk to you, and the room’s general, low-key vibe suggests that you can daydream, visiting the sinister corners of your brain. With the TV on, but the sound off, the air practically dead and the conversations of the small assemblage stopped... well, what better time for your mind to create its own story of this place? In this peculiar tale, set in the eerie still of a dying tavern, the creaking door swings open and a cartoonish villain piles into the space. From his outstretched hand a shot ring outs, the bullet moving in your general direction. It slows-in-a-filmic-crawl, hanging in midair, before falling to the harmlessly to the sawdust on the floor. Then you come to. You’re lost in a moment of your own making. You awaken, in a sense. The sawdust is gone; no bullets are at your feet. The smoke in air comes not from a gun, but from the thousand cigarettes smoked here on just this day. The film you saw around the corner is forgotten. The film you’ve just dreamed is fresh, but unreal. The film you’re living in is real and it’s considered tragi-comedy.
Ken’s Lounge
1539 20th St Granite City, IL 62040
618-876-0510
The lighting at Ken’s is low, on the best of days, and it must’ve been nearly dark this past Saturday. Working my way down the bar, past drinker-after-smoker, I finally found a place to call my own, only to have the bartender ask for ID. Clearly, the simple fact that I wasn’t a day-to-day regular confused her sense and she took the ID to a light next to the register for further investigation. Eventually, it was determined that I’m twice legal age and could enjoy my Bud and bag of pretzels, which combined to set me back $3.
The conversations around me stalled and stilled; that outsider thing seemed to be kicking in again and I felt as if I was drinking at a bar in Carondelet, but knew that I was in the literal shadows of the mills at Ken’s. It sits just a few feet from industry, but is also within a dozen yards of homes, the city’s hospital and an abortion clinic that draws weekly, Saturday-morning protests. So Ken’s is in the thick of it all, the center of the action in Granite’s downtown.
Conversations tend toward the pleasingly garden variety at Ken’s. Someone’s getting a truck addition to move some furniture. Some else is upset about the State of Illinois’ tax policies. A pool game threatens to break out, but doesn’t. The gent to my right stares straight ahead, dabbing his smoke in the ashtray, nipping at his beer, which is encased in his own can coozie. The fellow to my right asks my age, after that ID flap, then returns his back to me. For a time, I held a job down the road and tucked into this place for a silent drink; so it was in 2011, so it shall be today and all days.
Sue’s Corner
4222 Nameoki, IL, 62040
618-931-9913
If the prior two entries suggest that Granite bars are a place of solitude, my arrival at Sue’s dispatched some of that. Instead of the place being shut tight, two doors were thrown open wide, soaking in the air and sun from the day-prior-the-snow. Even with the doors open, people stepped outside to smoke, a remarkable sight in southwestern Illinois, where the state’s smoking law is only lightly enforced, if ever, at most taverns. Here, people enjoyed the outdoors, reveled in it.
For example, the three duffers who were hanging out near the side entrance. They were essentially in a parking spot and as I pulled up, one of them said something. So I said something. Then they responded. And so did I, all of it a chorus of confusion. No harm, no foul, as it turned out, so I went in and dropped onto a barstool, figuring the conversation was over for the day. Staring deeply into a large fish tank with three cichlids, I found a new neighbor, who told me that I resembled her boss; after several minutes of Facebook-fishing, she found a photo. Damned if we didn’t look alike.
I sipped at my beer a bit more, watched her fool with her phone, kept tabs on the basketball game, checked out the regulars shooting darts. All within the span of a few minutes, I felt myself waving back down, part of a week’s worth of sickness. I took my leave and my neighbor seemed a bit surprised, as she had more photos to show me, and the day was still young, only five hours into the afternoon and with a full house enjoying the upbeat vibe of Sue’s. It was a needed trip, a nice boost. I’ll be back, with pictures and stories to share.
