Much more room, I
much less smoke \
changes j
O’Rourke’s atmosphere
By Cristine Romano
Staff Reporter
Doug McLeese keeps an over
flowing datebook these days. --
The co-owner of O’Rourke's con
cedes that some days, he just doesn t
gel to all the tasks he’s entered, and
they must wait until tomorrow. Or
maybe after the weekend.
The busy McLeese said the new
O’Rourke’s at 1329 O St. has been
generally well received. ” Quite an
understatement to anyone who’s
ventured in or near the packed
tavern on a weekend night.
“We’d hoped for an increase in
c'lbtc 11/it ” ho
“Luckily, we’ve been able to have
that and sull have the same type of
clientele.”
The new location has one and a
half to two times the seating capac
ity of the old location. And there’s
"a lot more standing space, too” he
said. And while the new O’Rourke’s
sports the old tables, chairs and
popcorn bowls, changes are appar
ent to long-time patrons.
“We didn’t set out to make a
change in the atmosphere,” McLe
ese said, “but we didn’t set out to
duplicate the old place, either.”
Gone are the days of the dark,
smoke-filled backroom atmosphere
that some regulars miss and some
new patrons disliked.
We re getting people who would
have never stopped in the okl plaoe,”
he said. “The old place was too
crowded and smoky for Mime.”
But ceiling height and amount
of light aren't really what O’Rourke’s
is all about, McLec.se said. People,
both patrons and staff, are the key
to the atmosphere
“You can do anything you want
to the physical make-up, he said
“And the atmosphere is sull mainly
the clientele and the people who
staff the bar."
O Rourke's has always drawn a
diverse crowd, he said, and the
new place is no different. While
McLeese has fielded a few com
plaints of the new place drawing a
whole new breed, he says the
demographic breakdown of patrons
is the same as before, “but there’s
just more of everybody.”
“We’re extremely happy with
the clientele we've had iri the past
and have now," he said. “We didn’t
set out to gel a new crowd.” ‘
McLeese said the O’Rourke’s
philosophy remains the same - a
good drink at a fair price in a place
where everyone feels comfortable.
The transition from the tavern’s
old location, 121 N. 14th St, to the
new place has gone “much smoother
than any of us expected,” McLeese
said. Everyone has been coopera
live, from the staff lo the city offi
cials lo the customers, he said He
had kn. wn that O'Rourke's would
have to move from its old location,
121 N. Hth St., from the lime he
and co-owner Dave Moreland
opened the tavern in 1980
“It was obvious that the land
there would be more profitable for
some other use,' he said
So the move was just a matter of
when. As the development project
took shape and the land w'asdesig
nated for a parking lot, McLeese
and Moreland searched for a new
place to move. They decided lo
stay in the area of 14th and O
streets because, McLeese said, “we
enjoyed l>cing around other well
run bars and businesses ”
The new location has improve
ments from the employee point of
view. More refrigeration space and
a basement cooler allow more liq
uor to be kept on hand. And be
cause the owners were able to lay
out the interior, the behind-the-bar
space was designed so bartenders
could make drinks more efficiently,
McLeese said.
While theold place was "home,”
McLeese said tne new place is
growing on him. And judging from
the average crowd size, the new
place has grown on a few other
people, too.
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