Monarchs' Club, 646 Stocking Ave NW, Grand Rapids ~ 9/19/23

Housed in a historic 1893 structure, this is a delightful and comfortable bar that was established in 1925 as a speakeasy. The building began life as a drug store and there's a photo of it hanging in the bar.
In 1985, the Wisla Shop (a gift shop) operated here and the owner, Mieczyslaw Szczepanczyk, later turned it into a Polish restaurant. According to Monarchs' Club facebook page, the space was reborn as a pub in 2007.

An adjoining room/building used to operate as Rapinski's Deli, then Mercury Bar, and is now a pool room (Tuesdays are free pool nights).




The impressive beer can collection belongs to the owner of the bar.
This window looks into the bar.
Here's the door leading to the pool room and the outdoor patio (where smoking is allowed).


The bar is small but charming with its old wooden booths, writing on the walls, and unique decor.




We were informed by our server, Kellen, that the skeleton was left behind by a then upstairs tenant, who also happened to be our server, Gregg, back at Rocky's Bar. ðŸ˜Š (The owner of the Monarch Club also owns Rocky's Bar.)
We were lucky that the place was not busy because Kellen was our server as well as our cook. He was good at both.

We started with a "No Diggnity", two Hofbrau Hefes, an Arnold Palmer (which may have had a little vodka in it?), and a pretzel with beer cheese and mustard.



The beer cheese was a nice, thick spread and made in house.
Our entrees were slow to arrive but Kellen was doing it all himself.
The Chicago Italian Beef was excellent. Spicy Giardiniero had good heat and the artisan style bun held up. We love bun integrity 😉
Tuesday's special was two classic chili dogs for $7.00 and two of us went for that. Its full title is the Classic Red Lion Chili Dog with mustard, onion, and pickle. And for one Red Lion fan, it tasted like she remembered so kudos to the kitchen on the beefy chili!
Our last item was the All American Hot Dog with ketchup, mustard, onion, and pickle. All good, especially with all of the hot dog buns lightly toasted.
If you can't get a booth, you'll be sitting at the bar or at the long table running between the booths and the bar.



The TVs were showing sports or movies and a quiet soundtrack was playing so it was easy to talk. We are big fans of this bar and its atmosphere, and would encourage you all to stop in soon. You might just see an invitation to an after party on the bathroom wall 😃




 

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