Muncie Origins: Fickle Peach offers laid-back bar experience

Customers sit on the patio of The Fickle Peach listening to live music by the Tuesday Nite String Band on Sept. 1. The bar and restaurant was one stop in the community event First Thursday, which showcased Muncie’s local artists. Grace Ramey // DN
Customers sit on the patio of The Fickle Peach listening to live music by the Tuesday Nite String Band on Sept. 1. The bar and restaurant was one stop in the community event First Thursday, which showcased Muncie’s local artists. Grace Ramey // DN

Events and Activities at Fickle Peach:

Mondays- live bluegrass music

Tuesdays- trivia nights

Wednesday is always open to something new.

Thursday- Pints and Paint with Cornerstone Center for the Arts

Friday and Saturday- live music 

Saturday and Sunday- football games

Editor's note: Muncie Origins is a Ball State Daily News series profiling various businesses that originated in Muncie.

Twelve years ago, one historic Muncie building was transformed into what is now Fickle Peach.

Chris Piche started working in the bar business when he was 21, and when the opportunity came up to open one of his own, he and his family jumped at it. 

Piche had long loved the old Oliver W. Storer & Wife Bank building located in downtown Muncie. When the space went up for sale, it was a chance he couldn’t turn down.

With the help of his best friend Brian Fickle, the bar was born. Fickle co-owned and helped run the bar with Piche for nine years before he died of cancer.

Much of the bar contains the same materials that were in the old bank. The marble floor, the tin ceiling, much of the wood and the vaults are all still there.

When Piche and Fickle remodeled, they recycled most of the wood to keep within the building.

They used an old cabinet found in the vault to accent the bar and the pillars in the building. The vaults are now used as a walk-in cooler and storage for the draft beer.

When it came to naming the bar, Piche and Fickle struggled to find a name.

The two worked in the bar business for a long time together and were known well by Muncie residents as "Peach and Fickle." There, the name was born to “say it all,” as Piche’s wife put it.

Being experienced bar employees, the two had their perfect idea on what they wanted the bar to be like. They wanted a place that was casual and made everyone feel welcome, a quality the bar's management still holds dear.

“If we don’t know your name by your second, third visit to the bar, we aren’t doing our jobs,” Piche said.

Piche said the bar is definitely a place to develop relationships, even with the staff. 

They pride themselves on getting to know people because to them, it isn’t just about the patronage, but about having a good relationship with customers.

Piche is often told the “atmosphere is hard to match.” Unlike most bars, Fickle Peach is considered a good date bar, or a place to go with friends.

They take the time to make sure everyone is comfortable and feels safe inside the bar.

“If you can’t come out, your wife can,” Piche said.

The bar offers something different every evening, so there’s always something to do.

On Mondays there is live bluegrass music, Tuesdays are trivia nights and there’s always a new event on Wednesday nights.

Every Thursday they hold Pins and Paint, a weekly fundraiser with Cornerstone Center for the Arts.

They also have live music Fridays and Saturdays and show football games on weekend nights.

Although Fickle Peach doesn’t offer nightly specials like other area bars, they do have a large variety of draft beer and rare drinks.

Katie Fillingsness, a senior marketing major, enjoys the environment Fickle Peach offers.

"Something that makes it unique to me is that it's not as fast paced or hectic as the village bars and can be an enjoyable break from the chaotic bar scene," Fillingsness said.

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