Stopped by the Work in Progress Bar last night for a VERY late lunch/early dinner... Work in Progress is located in the basement of the Val Air Ballroom.
Work in Progress has two entrances (door 8 and door 9). They can be a little challenging to spot... Door 8 is handicapped accessible and winds you down a ramp past the kitchen and the bathrooms into the bar. Door 9 is a short flight of stairs. Being in Val Air there's a large lot with plenty of parking.
Jake (the afternoon/evening bartender) and Kelso (the lunch/day bartender) greeted me as I walked in. Seating is a combination of standard bar seating, some high top tables and chairs, and a few low top wooden spools and chairs...
I'd browsed the menu online and decided to stick with what I know and ordered the tenderloin. Their Heavy Liftin (sandwich) menu comes with a choice of fries or a salad with blue cheese dressing.
Jake doubled up as both my server and bartender.
Then they introduced me to their $3 mystery beer machine (pick a letter for a random beer) and their shot wheel... Both are perfect for when you can't decide what you want... The mystery beer machine was a new concept for me and the letter R rewarded me with a Montucky Cold Snack Lager (the unofficial beer of Montana). It was pretty good... In fact I had two... Lol
The tenderloins are hand cut and hand breaded so your mileage may vary. Today mine was pretty thin... It was cooked well and tasted good. They drag it through the garden so if you don't like lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, ketchup, and mustard...speak up. I forgot to.
The side salad was kind of epic...at least for a side salad. It's huge!
$22 total before tip for the tenderloin, salad, and two beers.
The vibe here is really cool. Very relaxed. A framed picture of the Home Improvement cast behind the bar... A few misc. construction themed signs. King of the Hill playing on at least two of the TVs. A pool table. A claw machine. Definitely a great place to stop in after work, wind down, grab a couple of beers, and a bite to eat...!
A big metal air duct runs the full length above the top of the bar... Stickers and magnet donations are encouraged! Stick 'em up there if you got 'em!
And I almost forgot to mention... There's a planned watch party for the new upcoming King of the Hill season...! Lol
A big shout out to Jake, Kelso, and Javi (one of the on staff cooks for both WIP and Tom Archer's Poor Man's Country Club) for some fun conversation and making me feel welcome!
Good food and a great staff! Someplace new to check out if you haven't already!
https://www.wips.biz/ read more