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Bars where Pete has had a Drink (5,984 bars; 1,754 bars in Seattle) - Click titles below for Lists:


Bars where Pete has had a drink

Sunday, October 13, 2024

#5881 - Log Cabin Tavern, Des Plaines, IL - 9/7/2024

I haven't found much information about the Log Cabin Tavern, in Des Plaines, Illinois, some 5 miles northeast of O'Hare Airport. It is said to have been built in 1934 by Vincent "Charlie" Crement, opening as "Crement's Beer Garden," renamed "Crement's Log Cabin" in 1938, and then "Log Cabin Inn" in 1946. I've found no web site for the place, and the Facebook page is unclaimed. But when you actually come upon it, the old cabin and adjoining patio are quite remarkable.

The inside and especially the outside are crammed full of antiques, odd crafts, and random collections; a row of antique wood pulleys hangs over a set of old milk cans, a collection of meat grinders, nautical items, taxidermy and a koi pond, elaborately crafted birdhouses and framed music albums, tables crafted from tree trunks, sewing machines, a pot bellied stove, and old sewing machines, unfolding in waves as you seem to wander from room to room even on the patio.

More of an old neighborhood joint than a dive bar, the staff and many of the regulars are Polish. The kitchen offers a fairly simple menu, a mix of old-time bar food (e.g. burgers, soups) and Polish specialties such as zapiekanka, pyzy, bigos and pierogis. The beer menu is also relatively simple, with just 3 or 4 on tap, and 20 or so additional choices in bottles, but also including Polish options like Tyskie and Żywiec. 

I would probably hang out quite often if I lived anywhere near.







































 































346 Potter Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60016 - (847) 299-1811
Est. 1934 - Building constructed: 1934 
Previous bars in this location: Crement's Beer Garden, Crement's Log Cabin 
Reviews: patch - yelp - tripadvisor - roadtrippers 

Thursday, October 03, 2024

#5877 - Old Tavern Inn, Niles, MI - 9/6/2024

Old Tavern Inn, Niles, MI 

Founded in 1836, the Old Tavern Inn has been recognized by the State of Michigan as being the oldest business in Michigan still operating in its original building. It is not clear to me on what basis it rules out the New Hudson Inn (which claims to have been founded in 1831), nor is it clear to me exactly when it changed its name to "Old Tavern Inn" after operating for many decades as the Sumnerville Tavern. Nevertheless, its own claim to its purported history is unusually strong, as documented by a loose bound book in the establishment itself, full of photos and a brilliantly researched list of owners and transactions over the years.

The book, was assembled by Barbara Cook and her husband Grafton "Grif" Cook, and its a gold mine to people like me who are curious about the history of the place, which locals refer to as "OTI's." As per their book:

"The Sumnerville Tavern is one of the most historic and insteresting buildings in Cass County and was apparently the first building constructed in the newly formed village [Sumnerville, platted in 1836]. For over twenty years it was located on the stage coach route connecting Kalamazoo and Niles."

Ida and Fred Freeman, who ran the business from the mid 1920s to mid 40s, re-oriented and expanded the building, adding a pool table and gas pumps out front of the tavern. But with vehicles (including a hearse carrying a body) failing to negotiate the 90 degree turn and crashing into the pumps, the Freemans eventually built a new concrete basement and foundation, and turned the building itself 90 degrees. "The building which for 80 years faced west was turned to face south. What had been the side of the building, facing north, now faced, as it still does the Indian Lake road. A large porch over the new front was built as well as tow large windows on each side of the new entrance."

The tavern, family restaurant, and former grocery and gas station had changed names to the Old Tavern Inn by the mid 1970s, and it remains plainly a popular place -- quite packed with local families on the Friday afternoon I stopped by, as efficient and friendly servers whizzed to and fro. It is known particularly for its ham sandwich, which unfortunately I was not in a position to sample on this day.

But at least I am glad that they no longer greet first time visitors in quite they way they are said to have done when founder Peabody Cook still owned the joint. The Cooks quote Abner Moon, a newspaperman from nearby Dowagiac, with the following account:

"It was said of Cook's regime that it was a pastime with its sitters about the place to 'initiate' those who came to the house. The candidate would be surrounded and taken down upon the floor where he was held pinioned by wlling hands whilst whiskey was rubbed on his head and then a hot brick was applied while the candidate struggled and yelled 'Ouch!' when the hot brick was applied and the house rang with the laughter and glee of the merry roysters."