I have to apologize for not getting to this sooner. I’d heard a pizza or beer place might be opening in the old service station at the corner of Broadway and Jackson, but somehow I missed it when the Corner Beer Pub (Corner BP) actually opened. Subsequently, when I passed by and realized it had happened I intended to walk over and see what it was all about. I just never quite made it. Until now.
As you approach, there is no mistaking what you are looking at: an old service station. Still, there are things that don’t quite fit, like picnic tables where gas pumps used to sit. Inside you’ll find table tops resting on the hydraulic lifts where car used to be hoisted. The huge doors to the car bays are raised in all but the worst weather giving the illusion that every seat is outside.
Inside resembles your neighbor’s garage if he converted it to a bar. It’s a pretty bare-bones affair with plenty of reminders of its original purpose. A picture on the wall shows the location in its gasoline heyday. I happened upon the bar when the service station owner, the current owner of the building and one of the owners of the business were present so, of course we had to have a picture for posterity.
There were two regular customers sipping a beer at the bar when I arrived and they really wanted me to make clear that the Corner BP has awesome happy hour specials: nearly every beer in the row behind the bar is a dollar. The other special which Bette mentioned was that anyone who bikes (as in bicycle, not motorcycle) up to the bar gets fifty cents off each beer – excluding happy hour specials. She said on pretty afternoons they are covered up with bikers.
They are also open on Sundays if there is a NASCAR race and while they usually open at four, if someone shows up earlier and indicates a thirst, they are happy to open a little early, “as long as it’s OK for me to keep cleaning,” Bette adds.
So, there you have it: a Corner BP like you may not have seen before. If you like a casual atmosphere and a wide range of low-priced beers, this is your place. They also have a couple of beers on tap and light pub fare (pizza and barbecue) to take care of what ails you and Bette is so friendly that it was only after agreeing to pose for a picture that she asked, “and who are you?”