Schlafly on the Big Deck

Celebrating Red Friday was the order of the day yesterday. I set up the 3rd annual Red Friday Football Happy Hour presented by Irwin Mainway's Bag O' Glass. In reality a mix of work friends, spouses, Wes and notri amie Parisienne.

I left the work a little early, it being Friday and all, so I could sample some Schlafly Raspberry Hefeweizen that I knew they had on tap at John's on Wyandotte. Chimps may love pumpkins but Bulls love rasperries and I've been looking forward to having the raspberry hefeweizen for quite some time. I walked into John's, sat next to a guy drinking PBR from a can at the bar, always a good sign and asked Brad Hamilton (let's call her Barb, since she was a chick and all), the bartender, what Schlafly they had on tap. I knew the answer, but I like to see what kind of bartender I'm working with. I don't think Barb Hamilton was used to being 'front of the house', she walked up to the tap handle and attempted to read it and said "Raspberry huh, huh, mmkklsdjen", I said "I'll take that", an eyebrow or two was raised by the two swinging oldsters sitting at the end of the bar. I got the distinct feeling they still talk about the last guy who ordered a Raspberry huh huh mmklsdjen. Hamilton pulled on the tap handle and it spit at her, nothing resembling something I wanted to drink was coming from that tap handle on this visit. Hamilton summed it up by turning her head and giving me a succinct head shake. I was to pick another beer, I hoped I wouldn't have to watch her fumble around for a form to fill out. Luckily, the taps at John's are well thought out and they had Sam Adams Octoberfest, a beer I really enjoy (I enjoy most Octoberfest beers). Presented with the option of big or small, I went small. I joked I was going up to the Big Deck, I needed a beer for the stairs. I'm sure the waitstaff at John's has never heard that joke, I may trademark it. Right then, I figured out what had happened, apparently Arnold (let's call her Arlene since she was a chick and all) finished off her piss and was ready again to man the front of the house. Hamilton could go back to her back of the house duties. I kind of hoped she would say "I hope you had a hell of a piss, Arlene", but she didn't.

I finished off my Octoberfest and headed up the steps. Straight up two flights of stairs in a dark narrow staircase into what I like to call demoralizing corner where you turn a corner and think you're going to be at the top, but no, it's one more flight. But the deck is well worth the climb surrounded by downtown KC with a view of the River Market, it's a great bar for city folk. As I was the first one there I sidled up to the bar and my decision was easy, a Schlafly APA, it was the biggest tap handle. The best thing about the tap handle was it had hops on it. I dig a hoppy beer and the Schlafly APA is definitely hoppy and not the kind of beer you want if you're real thirsty because it will not quench your thirst. The little tiki hut that serves as a bar for the deck has a little TV in it that was showing the most fascinating show on cast making. The attentive lady bartender (pictured at the right) could sense my fascination with this wonderful bit of programming and changed the channel to more standard ESPN fare. Wes showed up, ordered an APA, I told him it was real hoppy and his next statement made me question our friendship. "They should serve this at Easter", it was truly that bad, I still can't believe it. Anyway the APA is a really good beer, I went ahead and committed to it by ordering the big one.

We moved over to a table and the rest of the group staggered in like a bunch of hobos. Several phone calls were fielded about how to get to the deck, how long are we staying, etc. The deck was a pretty hoppin spot (okay I'll quit now) with barely an empty table to be found, our group was over capacity on the four top that we secured. We had some nice discussion with notri amie Parisienne, the work mates and rarely seen spouses.

A quirky thing about the deck, if you order food, the waitress will send the order down to the kitchen, but you have to physically walk down to get said food. Really once you climb those stairs, you're hoping to be there to stay. The nearest restroom is one floor down, but that's not so bad. It does get a little tedious after a big beer or two, but overall the deck is well worth it.

Stella and I decided (see what I did there, I included myself in the decision, but, I had nothing to do with it) to go to Jazz for some dinner. We got over there and what was on sale but Schlafly Hefeweizen, no raspberries in that one. I ordered that of course and it was alright. Boulevard Wheat is better, but it was better than New Belgium's and Goose Island's wheat offering. Jazz was packed as always on a Friday night and it took over an hour to finally get our food, but that was alright, I always have a pretty good time at Jazz.

I awoke this morning to a pretty good email from Wes informing me of his dancing exploits last night. This is great news, I feel like Jimmy Fallon after he missed the Red Sox - Yankees game when they scored 10 runs in the 9th. I did get to see Wes' greatest drunken exploit, "Like a Virgin" done as spoken word at the Peanut's Karaoke night a couple of years ago, I'm a little sad I missed the dancing, for those that don't know Wes, he is NOT pretty fly for a white guy.

To wrap up, here's a proposed Schlafly tour of great places to go. Start at Willie's, get the Schlafly Pale Ale, go over to John's and have the Schlafly seasonal that they will have on tap (hopefully), climb the stairs and have the APA (American pale ale, it's the best of the bunch) and then go to Jazz and have a hefeweizen with some blackened catfish.

John's Happy Hour

2-6 M-F and All Day Sunday

Daily Specials

Sunday 1/2 price apps and $1 domestic pints

Monday $2 wells, $3 burger and side

Tuesday $2.50 margaritas, $2 pints

Wednesday $1.50 PBR, Vodka Red Bull $3

Thursday $3.50 Long Island Ice Tea, Domestic Bucket 5 for $11

Friday $3 Smirnoff vodka flavors, $1.50 Purple Hooter shots

Saturday 11-5 $2.50 Bloody Mary's, $3 Bacardi Rum Flavors, $1.50 Sex on the Beach