The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 160

The Des Moines Register Datebook Thursday, May 4, 2006 3 1 DB arbio htlife BarS cene Climate change affects beer price gt fa '-'i -i -nrr'Tn iin iiium it's really cold outside next week, the Piatt family is in trouble. R.J. Piatt, the son of the owners of the Bourbon Street REID FORGRAVETHE REGISTER IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR AT BOURBON STREET SOUTH. MOTHER BONNIE PLATT, SON R.J, AND FATHER RON PLATT (NOT PICTURED) HAVE RUN THIS BAR FOR 10 YEARS. South, 500 Army Post Road, had a brilliant idea to celebrate the bar's 10th birthday next week: Let's sell 12-ounce draws for Old World Pub Pizzeria LOCATION: 4138 Fleur Drive.

PHONE: (515) 953-3700 HOURS: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 1 1 a.m. to midnight Sundays. WHAT TO EXPECT: First-time owners Rob Maroc and Ryan Cook opened this barrestaurant combination in late February.

Although this may be the only place in town with a suit of armor inside the front door, the decor isn't Old World so much as the mindset. "We wanted to do this the way pubs used to with quality ingredients," said Maroc, who kept his day job as a jet-engine technician with the Iowa Air National Guard. CROWD: Earlier in the day and into the early evening, the place draws everyone from downtown businesspeople to couples with infants. Later, it shifts to a pool-shooting, beer-drinking crowd. TUNES: The digital jukebox is why Maroc and Cook said they've heard everything from Johnny Cash to Metallica.

The pub will also offer live music, beginning on Saturday with the Creek Dwellers. ON THE WALL: Beer mirrors but patrons can also find framed maps of the world. MUNCHIES: Sandwiches, pizza and plenty of deep-fried appetizers. The kitchen is open until midnight most nights, said Cook, a former Iowa Paint salesman. "We make a good pizza," he said.

BARTENDER'S CHOICE: The Stormin' Norman Absolut, amaretto and pineapple juice. MOST EXPENSIVE DRINK: Don Julio, an $8 shot. SPECIALS: Sundays, all day Happy Hour, $1 off appetizers; Mondays, free pool and $2 Bud and Bud Light Tallboys. Tuesdays, Progressive Pitchers, starting at $1 at 7 p.m. and going up to $6 at midnight.

At 1 a.m., they're back to $1. Thursdays, government employees get a 10 percent discount. BOTTOM LINE: For patrons who like the food they eat at the bar to taste as good as the beer, this is a good place to spend an afternoon or evening. Mary Challender a whatever price the high temperature was the day before. A freak 100-degree day next week would mean beers cost $1.

A 75-degree day means 75-cent beers. "If there's a 50-degree day, we're in trouble, because that'll mean 50-cent beer," R.J. told me. "I hope a cold front doesn't come through." Cool idea, and a nice way for this bar-owning family to thank its south-side regulars. When I visited Bourbon Street earlier this week, I saw one of the oddest sights I've ever seen in a bar: an L-shaped pool table.

"Lots of couples play it," R.J.'s mother, Bonnie Piatt, said. "It evens them out. The guys don't have the advantage any more." PARTY IN THE BURBS Clive After Five kicks off its summer season at 5 p.m. Friday at Linnan Park, 86th Street and Alice Avenue, Clive. For a $5 cover, enjoy Latin jazz band Brothers and Sons and Dos Equis beer.

The party goes until 8 p.m. Urbandale's Friday Fest also starts on Friday. Enjoy live music and a party atmosphere from 4:45 to 8:30 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 4 at Walker Johnston Sports Complex, 9000 Douglas Ave.

Admission costs $6, which includes three drink tickets. The Likely Suspects play Friday, followed by the Blue Band on May 12, and more throughout the summer. Rain location is Keysters, 3280 100th St. Call 276-3246 for rain details or visit www.friday-fest.com. KENTUCKY FRIED BENEFIT Keyster's Lounge, 3280 100th Urbandale, and Dr.

Mellissa Billings invite you to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's man, woman and celebrity of the year campaign benefit Wednesday. Billings is the society's woman of the year candidate. Find drink specials, a silent auction and music by Kentucky Fried Mullet. The party kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with a $5 donation at the door.

Proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Campaign. MUY CALIENTE Trophy's Sports Bar and Grill, 2701 Douglas is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a salsa contest Friday night. Bring homemade salsa for a chance to win a trip to Mexico. The contest starts at 7 p.m. Margarita, tequila and enchiladas will be on special.

Bar owners: Have an item for the Bar Scene? E-mail datsbookedmreg.com or cat! Jeff Morten, 264-8166. NIGHT SHIFT Reid Forgrave HI a. V) rr a t- Ui i- The Platts have owned four other bars in central Iowa: the Cottontail in Urbandale, the Sportsman, Bourbon Street North in Johnston, and Barry's on the corner of Fleur Drive and McKinley Avenue, which burned down in 1995. R.J., a 1996 Dowling graduate, grew up in bars. He'd have a cot and a TV in the back room when he was younger, and he'd be there every night so he could spend time with his father, who was always working.

"That's why he gets along with old people," Bonnie said. "He's always gotten along with the customers, ever since he was young." The morning after Barry's burned and the Platts were called to the fire at 4 a.m., R.J. Piatt took the ACT exam. "I didn't do great, but enough to get into school," R.J. said.

Of all their bars, Bourbon Street is the one that stuck. It's large, 5,000 square feet in a strip mall off Army Post Road. There are four pool tables, plus the L-shaped pool table. It has a 100-inch screen for a projection TV, plus three 60-inch screens and a half dozen more smaller televisions a perfect place for a Sunday in October. The bar serves its own pizzas, plus pub grub, including an odd thing called hash balls (hash browns, rolled into a ball, filled with cheese).

But the whole time I was there, I couldn't get my mind off the whole beer-price-based-on-the-weather thing. Would that mean, should a freakishly cold day come through that, perhaps, the bar would actually pay us to drink? Sorry, R.J. I know it might bankrupt you and your family, but I'm rooting for a freakishly cold day next week, say, minus-10 as a high temperature. By my calculations, you'd have to pay me a dime for every beer I drink. Of course, if Iowa freezes next week, R.J.

could always pull his trump card. "I never said which high temperature it is," he said, jokingly. "It could always be the high temperature in Phoenix." 2 CO a -i a. 5 I-u. UI Ui a.