Best Juke Box
The Tap Room
311 E. Congress St.
READERS' AND STAFF PICK: Clink! The quarter slips down into the
Wurlitzer in The Tap Room. The guitar of Jimi Hendrix electrifies
the air as a patron slithers up to the bar, illuminated by red
neon. Jack Veatch, bartender extraordinaire, there as long as
we can remember, pours a stiff drink. The patron inconspicuously
checks out other folks in the long mirror behind the bar. His
songs are over and the next person adds quarters to the jukebox,
which proclaims it has "music for every good taste,"
including "rock 'n' roll, big band, new wave, cowboy, weird,"
We'd agree its selections are eclectic. You can hear Patsy Cline,
Al Perry, Aretha Franklin, Elvis, Public Enemy, James Brown and
Johnny Cash. Bring a roll of quarters and a thirst for a good
time.
READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Hours of vintage surf, lounge and blast-from-the-past
AM radio tunes sound like our idea of a good time, so it's off
to The Shelter, 4155 E. Grant Road. Hey, we might even
be cool enough to lean up against the Kennedy tapestry and pump
quarters into The Shelter's mighty box. The neglected but not
forgotten instrumental also has its rightful place amongst this
juke's cheezy playlist, and the sound of 1962 never sounded so
good.
