Scotty's Brewhouse is bringing the old times back to Ball State University in celebration of its tenth birthday. From Saturday to Sept. 16, Scotty's will dust off the Ball jars and serve a smorgasbord of specials for its customers to commemorate opening the first Scotty's in 1996."A lot of what we concentrated on doing with the 10-year anniversary is turning back the clock," Scott Wise, owner of the Scotty's chain, said. All week, the restaurant will be serving beer in Ball jars. Wise said he started out the restaurant using Ball jars as beer mugs, but it became too expensive to continue the practice because people broke or stole them. "The bigger you get, you start to lose where you come from," Wise said. Customers can keep the jars for $1 extra when they buy a pint of beer. The party extends to all three Scotty's locations, including the 6-year-old Bloomington location and the 3-year-old Lafayette location. Wise said Ball State playing both Indiana University on Saturday and Purdue University on Sept. 16 just adds to the celebration. Amber Martin, beverage and promotions director for the corporation, worked for Scotty's in West Lafayette for more than two years. Although the West Lafayette and Bloomington locations have not been open for 10 years, Martin said the festivities would be just as big."We're just as excited to celebrate 10 years [in West Lafayette] as Ball State," she said.On both game days, all three restaurant locations will hand out 1,500 free Scotty's Brewhouse koozies on a first come, first served basis.On Sept. 16, the restaurant in West Lafayette is expecting more customers because Ball State plays Purdue. "All the Ball State fans are coming from Muncie," she said. "They're familiar with Scotty's, so they naturally want to come here. They know they're going to get good food." Wise's restaurant is one of few in the Village that can boast about a 10-year anniversary. "It's beyond words," Wise said. Similarly to Greek's Pizzeria, Scotty's is a well-known establishment in Muncie and the Village.Senior Jen Moore, an apparel design and fashion merchandise major, said she is excited about the celebration and specials the restaurant is offering. "I went to Scotty's during summer orientation [freshman year]," she said. "And that's when I first got hooked."Now, Moore eats at the restaurant at least twice a week, she said. "They've got great food, a fun atmosphere and the servers are real down-to-earth," she said. Moore said she plans on going to Scotty's on Saturday before the football game against Indiana University. Also, she plans on going Friday to enter in the contest to win a free Caribbean Cruise.Wise said he received help with some of the promotions from sponsors such as Absolut Vodka. At age 32, Wise still reflects on 1996, when he opened his Muncie location. With some help from his father, who owns a major portion of the buildings in the Village, Scott Wise developed a business he thought would appeal to Ball State students."We used to get so busy that I would go home and cook pasta for the next day," Wise said as he recalled being the cook and bartender that first year.A few months after opening, Wise hired Eric Shamp, who is now the vice president of operations. Shamp and Wise knew each other from school. "Your people are your most important asset," Wise said. "All the people who helped with support." Not all of Wise's business ventures were successful. Wise ran another restaurant, Lucy!Lucy!, that closed after three years. "All businesses are hard," Wise said. "But restaurants have the highest failure rates."Wise sees the 10-year anniversary as a chance to review where the company came from and where it is going.An Indianapolis location, at 3905 E. 96th St., will open at the end of October, Wise said. The Indianapolis restaurant will be the first location to serve liquor, he said. "We're proving that we're moving forward, trying new things," Martin said. "If the spirit in Indianapolis works well for us, we may consider expanding it to the college towns as well." Also, Wise said he is looking at opening restaurants in out-of-state college towns such as Lansing, Mich. and Columbus, Ohio.
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