Oh, Kenosha. Tonight is the night I have been waiting for: finding someplace in town about which I…read moream actively, wholeheartedly jazzed about patroning.
The boyf and I stumbled across The Port of Kenosha Beverage House two weeks ago, driving home a different way than we usually would go so that we could potentially stop at the 22nd Ave Dairy Queen. Heading westward on 50th St, the red neon sign that read "The Port" on the front of a house caught both of our eyes for the first time. We vowed to check out this bit of potential awesomeness before I returned to Atlanta and finally did so tonight. And yes, it is as awesome as the red sign intimates.
No, The Port doesn't have a kitchen. And no, it doesn't take plastic, so plan ahead or use the ATM inside. But it does have the fabulous, laid-back dive bar vibe, tons of places to sit and hallways to meander, and the best-stocked jukebox I've seen in a long time (Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Prince, Bowie, Dwight Yoakam, the Go-Go's = yes, please). And it's clean, aesthetically pleasing (check out the wood detailing on the covered and screened back patio), and warm and fuzzy (case in point, the optimism painted on the walls of the ladies' rest room). And, duh, it has good drinks, too, from cans of Busch to summer ale on tap to summer mixed dranks (I can personally vouch that their $5 pints of Blue Hawaiians and Hurricanes are delicious, strong, and colorful).
"If my [dude] friends came to visit me in Kenosha, this is definitely the place I'd take them," reports the boyf. Living far away from Wisconsin, they are unlikely to do so anytime in the near future, but I know that I'll definitely be pulling for return visits whenever I'm in the 'nosh.