Muncie's newest downtown pub has had quite a successful start for only its first month in business. Savage's Ale House opened its doors for the first time on Sept. 1 and it was a night manager Andy Miller will never forget.
"It was a great first night," Miller said. "I know we exceeded our maximum occupancy load, which is 60, for at least a couple hours. It was packed; there was absolutely no seating available. We were really busy, and I can't believe we made it through."
Miller and his close friend Joel Savage, founder of the restaurant, are no strangers to running a bar. They met each other working at the Heorot, an old English-style bar on Walnut Street in downtown Muncie, and both quickly acquired a taste for different types of craft beer.
"I started going to the Heorot after work," Savage said. "I'd sit outside, do a crossword puzzle and start trying different stuff, and I developed a passion for craft beer. I was there every other day for two hours trying out a couple different beers, and one day the owner came up to me and asked me if I was interested in a job."
Savage ended up working at the Heorot as a bartender for a year before a managerial position opened. Even though it was a pay cut, Joel saw it as an opportunity to advance through the ranks and learn more about how the business worked. Soon, he was able to take what he had learned and apply it to setting up his own bar.
"I didn't just jump right into this business," Savage said. "I haggled with the owners for six months on the price of rent. All the previous tenants paid $1,500 a month, while we're paying $800. That helps a lot when you get $700 off your monthly bill."
The spot offers an impressive list of failed business ventures, including World Memphis Barbeque, a pulled pork and ribs restaurant, the New York House, and most recently, Morton's Pub and Grub. Ty Morton, owner of Morton's, has been lending a hand in helping Savage get his business off the ground by giving him business tips and helping him set up his draft system.
"Ty did make the place look really nice: This is the color he painted it, he put in all the fans, and we're definitely reaping the benefits of all the hard work he did," Savage said. "He's been really helpful just giving me pointers on where he went wrong, things that worked and didn't. I thank him for it all the time."
Savage and Miller have both learned from the mistakes of past businesses, and they don't intend on making the same mistakes. The biggest problem they had to overcome was a history of parking horror stories, mostly due to the disorderly state of the building's parking lot.
"We just took six hours one day to clean the parking lot up and line it out, and now parking is not an issue," Savage said. "We also have a nice bike rack, and we encourage people that come in here to ride their bike to avoid DUIs."
The new pub now features a late-night kitchen, open until 2 a.m. every day, which is a big attraction for customers, since most of the downtown restaurants and bars either don't have a kitchen or they close them down around 9 p.m.
"When people are in the mood for greasy burgers and fries, where else are they going to go? It's the best food bar downtown," Miller said. "We also sell a lot of Budweiser, Coors Light and other brands most bars don't carry. It sells well, and we price it a lot cheaper than most other places."
The bar features two Indiana-based brews: a wheat beer from Upland Brewery in Bloomington, and an IPA (India Pale Ale) from Three Floyds Brewing Company in Munster. Another crowd pleaser is their selection of $1 beers, which includes Pabst on draft, Hams in a Can, Carling's Black Label and Miller High Life, which aren't specials; they're everyday prices.
"All of our beers are very economically priced," Savage said. "We know that students are poor and to get them to come to your bar, you have to have affordable prices. And we're not underselling ourselves, it's just other places are trying to gouge people too much. We keep the prices low because Andy and I work all the time for next to no money just trying to get the business established."
The bar also includes a wide musical selection, as well as televisions. Requests are generally taken on what music or TV program will be played, the owner said. Savage has many future goals for the bar, including expanding their existing area into the building space next door, which is currently a rehabilitation facility called Living Life Clean. The facility won't be closing down, it will just be moving one space over, Savage said.
"We've been talking about expanding into the next space over, opening up the wall, and maybe getting a stage so we can start doing live music since right now there's no room for any live entertainment," Savage said. "I would also love to have a three-way license. Right now we just serve beer and wine, but with a three-way permit, we would be able to serve cocktails."
As for now, Savage's is open from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily, and from noon to midnight on Sundays. The kitchen is generally open until an hour before closing. It's located on the corner of Washington and High streets in downtown Muncie.
"Come check it out, and if you like it, tell your friends," Savage said. "If we don't have a beer you want and you let us know, we will get it in. I've gotten practiced at being a host, so I want to take any opportunity I can to show my customers a good time."
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