Warfare in Wally World: Will Kennedy’s Unseat Lew’s?

This much is known: when the watering hole/eatery known as Lew’s opened five years back, Tanner’s was king of the hill in Waldo…

Since then the once-sleepy suburb has morphed into a party zone that rivals more established and/or widely-hyped hangs like Westport, Martini Corner and Power & Light.

With one huge difference…

Things like murders, muggings, massive musterings of inner city youth, discriminatory dress codes, hordes of training-wheels drinkers with fake IDs and date rape drugs are virtually unheard of in Waldo. Party there and you can pretty much bank on living to tell the story.

Tanners, Hannibal’s, 75th Street Brewery, The Gaf and the tiny neighborhood joints that have been the backbone of Waldo’s nightlife are all going strong.

But the current King Kong of Waldo is now Lew’s – hands down.

There’s a new contender in the hood though – the once burnt, not a bit shy Kennedy’s. And since it opened a week or so back, the see-through people magnet has been packed.

The $64 million question: will it vie for Lew’s crown?

“Here’s the quote,” says Brooksider Marti Dolinar, who regularly frequents any number of the area’s watering holes. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

Meaning…?

“I’ve been to Kennedy’s one time and you know, it’s the same, but it’s new and it’s clean. I don’t think it’s any better, but I don’t think it’s any worse. It’s kind of like when a McDonald’s burns down down – you know, they’re out of business awhile and when they rebuild it everything looks new but it’s mostly the same.”

How about Kennedy’s new see-through vibe?

“Well, personally I liked the old place better cause it was kinda funky and had a lot of soul,” Dolinar says. “Unfortunately that’s not something you can build in. I just like dirty, nasty, funky places. Is it an improvement? Yeah, but I’d rather it be like it was before it burned down.”

photo by Irish KC

Dolinar’s characterization of Kennedy’s new digs; “It’s like a big, post-modern glass house.”

Okay, but is it a threat to Lew’s?

“I don’t think it’s a threat to Lew’s at all,” Dolinar says. “I think there’s a group of people who live in Brookside who like to come to Brookside or Waldo and they tend to go to all the different bars, not just the same one.”

The secret of Lew’s success? “It’s location, location; parking, parking; food, food; and service, service – Lew’s has it all and there’s a tremendous amount of emphasis on what I call really good customer service.”

The bottom line: there’s plenty of room in Waldo’s big tent, but only a single summit.