EXTREME
MAKEOVER: BAR EDITION
Local
bars keep it real with renovation.
by
Danny Cross
If I had my own bar it would be fucking awesome. Crazy
disco lights would pierce through eerie darkness. A long, fancy bar
would run alongside pool tables while a video projector flashed obscure
movies on the front window. Couches with fish tanks behind them would
surround fireplaces. A small corner stage would constantly offer the
opportunity to bring the house down.
But there's one problem: These elements of bar space,
while each legitimate in itself, just don't go together. I've never
been one to enjoy playing pool in eerie darkness. And eating tasty
food in an elegant maple booth isn't the same when disco lights threaten
to induce seizures before the main course.
Luckily, these elements (and more) are found in a
number of Eugene bars that you might not have checked out for a while.
Here's a look at four spaces that were recently renovated and the
kind of vibe they've got these days.
JAMESON'S - 115 West Broadway
Formerly Café Paradiso, Jameson's is now bringing
a sense of swank back to Broadway. Similar in aura to the Indigo District,
Jameson's is a dimly lit, highly sociable space with touches of fanciness
at every turn. A huge maple shelving unit behind a 30-foot angling
bar displays rows of liquor bottles from eye-level to nearly ceiling-level.
Booths (also maple) line the opposite wall beneath original paintings
that are changed monthly for the First Friday Art Walk. Large, planetary-like
fixtures hover over each booth while an obscure collection of lamps,
collected by the owner at garage sales and thrift stores, dimly dot
the rest of the room.
"I wanted to create a space that I was comfortable
hanging out in — kind of a nice, classy, low-key place," says
owner James Carroll, who also helped design John Henry's and Horsehead
bar.
Strangely, a 5-foot section of the outdoor brick patio
leads through the side doors and along most of the bar. The rest of
the place is the original carpet, which Carroll says will be replaced
once the downtown development drama gets settled. Until then, the
renovation process is at a convenient halt with nearly every detail
— from the orange, yellow and purple walls to the pool table
and dartboard — already altered.
"I think it's a tribute to making a nice place for
people," Carroll says. "When they find out about it, they like it
and they appreciate it and they'll come down and support you. Anybody
can build a bar, but if you build something nice, I think people really
appreciate that."
LATITUDE 21 - 25 W. 6th Ave.
Last September, Josh Tuckman took over the monstrosity
that was Joe's Bar. The black-painted windows and gangster-welcoming
darkness immediately called for a facelift. "It was a dark pit," says
Tuckman, the current general manager. "This town has plenty of dark
pits. There are plenty of places to go and spit on the floor and no
one gives a shit."
Tuckman envisioned a more urbanized space at the 6th
Avenue and Willamette location. He decided to offer two different
atmospheres in Latitude 21 — one on each side of the back-to-back
bars that split the room in half. The front room houses two pool tables
and a dinner area with a small stage against the front windows (which
now are clear and open to the parking lot). Tuckman revamped the kitchen
menu and says that the food at Latitude 21 might be the best bar food
in the state.
"Our menu is international — Caribbean, Polynesian,
Italian," he says. "We get all our meat from Long's Meat Market."
The opposite side of the bar is now more of a lounge.
The lighting is slightly dimmer, with red conical fixtures over the
bar and red bulbs in the ceiling lights. Couch areas, a fireplace
and fish tank offer a more intimate setting.
"It's nice but not pretentious," says Tuckman, who
ran Wetlands for seven years. "We're looking for a little bit older
and a little bit more mellow crowd."
At least one remnant of Joe's remains, however. The
coolest arcade game ever sits next to the front door — yes,
Big Buck Hunter made the remodeling cut.
SNAFU - 64 W. 8th Alley
 |
| Snafu |
Perhaps the most personal of the newest spaces in
town is Snafu, which basically is seating around a dance floor with
a bar at one end. Faux animal skins drape a bench seat that spreads
along the left wall with two-person tables across from it. The right
side of the room is a rectangular indoor cabana with two seating areas
raised 3 feet off the ground. Rugs, pillows and tree stump tables
offer patrons a place to chill out and watch people dance.
"I call it a tribal dance house," says owner Joshua
Keim. "It's a neighborhood flavored, gay-friendly bar."
The most striking renovation to Snafu is the sophisticated
lighting system, which, because of the small space, catches your eye
as soon as you walk through the doors. A large mechanical disco ball
contraption flutters lights on a white screen that is visible from
outside. Three rows of theater-style lights hang above the candle-lit
bar and tables. A video projector that Keim says will project films
on the front screen hangs in the back of the room.
"I love lighting and going to clubs in New York,"
Keim says. "They always have fancy lights. I just wanted to bring
a little of that to Eugene."
In the near future, Snafu will offer a drink menu
with its own renamed concoctions such as Spiced Monkey and Gator Bite.
TABOO - 23 W. 6th Ave.
Taboo General Manager Jim Bachelder squeezed a paper
towel around his bleeding finger. It seemed to be a commonplace afternoon
occurrence. "Yeah," he said. "It's a bar."
Aside from whatever glass smashing antics Bachelder
is into, he's also spent some time tidying up the club formerly called
The Jungle. Gone are the fake trees, the camo netting, the cheesy
leopard print on velvet and the festering fountain. Bachelder's main
change to the spacious, dark dance club is including the once roped-off
18-and-over side. The place now has the capacity for 777 grind-dancing
patrons. Bachelder added seating to the stage and plans to add a fifth
bartender.
"It's gotten to the point where we're putting 500
in here on Thursday and Friday night and getting to capacity on Fridays,"
he says.
The stage sits in the back corner of the bar with
dance space between it and the main bar. Two smaller bar areas are
dispersed among the open space near the front of the room and pool
tables offer a more chill area near the kitchen. Word on the street
is that this kitchen, "Barb's Café," is the place to be. Barb
and J.B. Black, Las Veganites by way of Mississippi, will cook up
the house special for $8.95 — Southern Deep Fried Catfish.
You can take that shit out on the dance floor and
have a really good time.
