One of the more unique bars I've ever been to in the Midwest is Harry's Chocolate Shop near the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, IN (see map).
From the outside, Harry's isn't much to see. Inside, it's even worse. It sort of looks like a Jaycees haunted house that was turned into a bar after Halloween was over. It's dark, dingy and cramped, and given the amount of beer that has probably been spilled on the floors over the years, it has the smell of a frat house after an all night party.
But all that just adds to the charm of Harry's, a place that has been open since 1919.
Harry Marack opened Harry's Chocolate Shop as a soda fountain that also served burgers and sandwiches. After Prohibition was repealed, they applied for one of the first beer and liquor licenses in West Lafayette. While still selling ice cream sodas and malts, they would be selling beer at the other end of the bar.
Harry Marack, and subsequently, his son, Harry, Jr., ran Harry's through 1977. Harry Marack, Jr. sold the establishment to Herschel Cook, who also owns (or owned) three other area bars - Wabash Yacht Club, The Pub and The Other Pub. Cook and his family have run Harry's ever since.
I was in Harry's recently more for nostalgic reasons than anything. Well, and to have a couple beers. My first trip to Harry's was about five years ago when we met up with our friends, Scott and Marcia Schroeder, and Dave and Pat Heusmann in West Lafayette for the Iowa/Purdue football game that year. Scott had read about Harry's and he said that was on his immediate agenda when he got to West Lafayette.
Harry's has two floors, and upstairs they have an area called "The Fishbowl", which is the center of the universe to students at Purdue. Getting a seat in the Fishbowl and holding it all night is usually a story of legacy proportions.
Harry's unofficial motto is "Go Ugly Early" - a take off the old standard college student's rule of if you have to go home with an ugly girl it's better than going home alone. They have Go Ugly Early shirts, mugs, and other knick-knacks for sale at Harry's.
Another interesting shirt or hat you can buy there is "Harry's - Home of the Great Indoorsman!" I almost got one of those as many times over the years my wife has questioned my sanity as to why I would like to be inside in a bar on beautiful days. Harry's is one of those kind of places that you'd like to hang out at even on sunny days.
Harry's gets pretty crowded on the weekends. We were there both Friday and Saturday night when we were there for the football game. But it was a fun crowd and we didn't feel out of place either in our Iowa shirts or because we were about 20 years older than most of the people in there.
However, the last time I was there, it was in the middle of he week. It was early in the evening and pretty tranquil. I was able to move freely around the place and take a look at the stuff they had on the walls and get an even better feel of how small the joint really is.
Harry's is truly an institution in West Lafayette and one of the best college beer bars I've ever been to. If you're ever in the West Lafayette area and looking for a beer, give Harry's a shot.
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