“It’s been ridiculous in here.”
So spoke Tanner (just Tanner, by the way – we did ask), the bearded, baseball-capped bartender on duty during a recon of DD’s Irish Pub & Karaoke this past Saturday afternoon. Two Mondays ago, that lounge observed a “soft” opening at 1740 Brentwood Blvd., opposite Brentwood Square.
Tanner estimated the lounge’s capacity at 180, but remarked of the response to DD’s, “It is far, far beyond our expectations.” Apparently, midcounty residents have chosen the lounge as ground zero to toast (knock wood) the recession’s end.
At the moment, DD’s offers 20 varieties of bottled beer and 10 brews on tap, a standard array of liquors and an unabashedly perfunctory selection of wines. A second bar, in the back, will open soon, Tanner told us, with 10 different taps (among them Guinness, an unfortunate exclusion from the front in a self-styled Irish pub). In addition to karaoke – whose allure, frankly, still eludes us – DD’s also sports industry-standard plasma TVs, as well as video games, a pool table and an Internet jukebox. Its hours run from 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily except Sunday, with happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. during the workweek.
Almost perforce, DD’s boasts a handsome hardwood front bar, and Tanner spared no praise for manager Jim Wideman, who “headed up all the construction and busted his butt to get it ready.” Despite the fatigue of opening a fairly high-profile midcounty lounge, though, Wideman himself chatted with us volubly, with the nasality of a longtime smoker. (In passing, he noted that the recent enactment of the Indoor Clean Air Code smoking ban – scheduled to take effect in St. Louis County on Jan. 2 – won’t cover DD’s because of its menu, limited to hot dogs, pre-prepared pizza and so forth.)
“At one point,” Wideman told us, “we had probably 30 to 40 people in a line, ’cause we had to shut ’em down. We couldn’t let any more people in – we were full.” Perhaps thanks to the unseasonably “Is it really November?” weather, even the presence outside the lounge of eight round faux mosaic tile–topped tables hasn’t alleviated the press of potential patrons.
Moreover, that embarrassment of riches may only grow when DD’s celebrates its grand opening this Saturday, Nov. 14. “We’re gonna barbecue,” Wideman told us. “We’re gonna have food put out for people.” Tanner added, “A band is coming. Also the Jäger Girls, the Bud Light Girls …” (For specifics, obviously, potential attendees should phone the lounge at 314.961.5646.)
The opening of DD’s, by the way, technically represents a reopening. The establishment formerly operated as the Double D Lounge (which reportedly opened just after World War II) at 2219 S. Brentwood Blvd. When current owners Rick and Donna Wideman decided to relocate, though, a more uptown handle seemed needed. “The name ‘Double D Lounge’ sounds like a strip joint,” Jim Wideman explained wryly. “So they wanted something a little different.” Hence the name change. Capiche? Groovy. Sláinte!
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2009.