#138: Frank's Place

Three big screen TVs.  A menu of homecooking meets bar food.  Karaoke every other Friday.  Full bar, even an adjoining liquor shop.  If you could talk the owner into renting you the apartment above the bar, you'd never have to leave.

As a true "neighborhood bar" of South Bend, Frank's Place relies on the immediate neighbors of the bar as well as a smattering of loyal South Bend regulars.  Personally, I've viewed Frank's as the ideal place for group watch of anything from an NBA game to the President's State of the Union Address.  It's a great place to sit back, relax with friends, and watch whatever might be on one of the three big screen TVs.  Tucked into the neighborhood just northwest of downtown, Frank's can be an alternate to the downtown bars on a weekend night or a great place for a drink and a bite to eat after work.  Like a couple of the other bars we've featured for our pre-Mardi Gras pub crawl, this bar doesn't bother with frills or gimmicks.  It's simple, honest, and pure South Bend.



Where: 327 W Marion Street, South Bend
When: Open for lunch, dinner, and after-hours
Phone: (574) 232-2277
Tip: Rumor has it that there's 25 cent wings on Wednesdays.....but I've yet to verify this for myself.

#137: Green Star Cafe

First it was the name, and then it was the cool retro sign and then it was just the bar itself.  Those being the increasingly compelling reasons to visit or frequent the Green Star Cafe of course. Oh and then there's the shuffleboard, but I'll get to that in a minute.

See what I mean?

Because of the reasons enumerated above, my friend (and actually fellow blogger) and I visited the Green Star Cafe for the first time several weeks ago. We had no idea what to expect in terms of bar atmosphere, but we were, or at least I was, surprised and pleased in a variety of ways.  You can't miss the cool neon-green sign that blinks above Miami Street, and when we entered, we were greeted by the friendly bar staff. Throughout the night it remained a lively but low-key place to hang out with friends (our choice), play darts, or even, as promised, play shuffleboard in the back. The bar is on the smaller side, but I would argue that that also is to its benefit; its size implies a neighborly friendliness that's hard to beat.

Location: 1605 Miami Street

Tip: As a heads up, the bar is cash only.