The College Town Pub
Tempe is a college town but given the fact Arizona State University is the largest school in the nation it does not have a quaint college town feel. The downtown Mill Avenue district at ASU is fantastic. I'm glad to be living closer to the action. There's plenty to do in this city with many events taking place downtown, festivals, concerts, ASU sporting events, etc, and we have the fake lake. The man made Tempe Town Lake is a major recreation area on the edge of downtown.
Casey Moore's Oyster House, A.K.A. 'the pub', is located near downtown. The oldest neighborhood in town, what I refer to as Bohemia, surrounds the pub at the edge of campus and the Mill Avenue attractions. I could live in Bohemia but the old homes are just too small to suit us. Old in Tempe means built before 1980. Bohemia is ancient for these parts, pre-WW2.
The mayor of Bohemia, an unofficial moniker I partly bestowed on Bob, is doing well after lung surgery. He's cancer free for about the fifth or ninth time in his life. His struggle is like the tide. The cancer will come back in the next wave. Apparently he has a pretty good doctor.
Casey Moore's is the best bar I've been to in AZ. The building is an old bungalow home with a large porch. The house is bigger than surrounding properties, expanded and converted into the pub. The entire side and front yards are brick patio where college students hang out on umbrellad picnic tables. A covered outdoor bar to serves the youngsters. Strolling the patio on my walk inside gives me the sense this spot is the place to be.
The inside bar is where the older Bohemians hang out. Every square foot of wall space is covered by an eclectic collection of weirdo decor, accumilated over decades and too numerous to mention. The bar is a living time capsule.
A funny thing happened at the Tempe Town Lake this year. The bathtub plug was pulled. The rubber damn failed sending 3 million gallons down the dry Salt River bed sometime around midnight. It turned into Tempe Town Mud in a matter of minutes. Thousands of stocked fish perished. Repairing and refilling the lake was very expensive and controversial in this economy. Bridgestone and the city pointed fingers.
We arrived Friday for the latter half of the 3-7 happy hour. Crazy Chris was there as the mayor's chauffer, Cheryl popped in later, the usual suspects populate the dark corners. The pub has many nooks and crannys. I'm usually a 4pm arrival but the 'new' day shift requires a later workday to hand the reigns of production off to the night-of-the-living-dead shift, Hermanos and the Shadow. I give everyone nicknames.
From the moment I stepped into Casey's it was my favorite pub. It reminds me of the bars back home. It's not your traditional Irish pub in appearance but the fare is unmistakably Irish, from the beers-on-tap to the menu. The Oyster House serves shell fish in any variation you can think of. They'll cook it too and the food is excellent. Last night I had a dozen Oysters Rockefeller. I shared with my bar mates, a tradition as Casey's. Always order enough to feed your friends.
There are two small dining rooms on the first floor. Many patrons won't realize the narrow stairway-up leads to former bedrooms converted to intimate dining rooms with 2-4 tables each. I've only dined upstairs a couple of times. The contrast with the lower level is significant, vibrant versus quaint.
I worked the vampire shift. The new guys are zombies. You'd have to see them in non-action to understand. Zombies walk slow. Being fair to the ghouls, since the shift swap we've been only moderately very busy monkeys.
I've been an irregular at the pub for about seven years. It's close to Monkeytech but my home was too far away for me to be a regular. I'm looking forward to increasing my appearances. The pub staff is very professional but with a loose and friendly manner. The bartenders always shake your hand when they greet you coming in. Everybody knows your name, what you drink, and what your favorite sports team is. It's by no means a sports bar, but it comes up in coversation and on the few flat screens.
Right around the corner from Casey's is my favorite music store Zia Record Exchange, where I suspect tattoos and body piercing are mandatory for employees. I can spend hours in this tiny shop browsing their collection of new & used music, video, and related art. Most trips to the pub include a pop in at Zia.
My new day shift motto is ... 'We work harder so you don't have to.' I want the zombies to enjoy working nights.
I will never go to Casey Moore's on St Patrick's Day. It's a fucking green zoo and all the amateur drinkers are out, driving too.