There’s been a lot of recent activity on Madison Avenue in Lakewood, particularly in the home of the shuttered Sullivan’s Irish Pub (13368 Madison Ave.), which closed last year after nearly a 10-year-run. And now we know why.
In early July, the site will reopen as Brew 133, a sports bar.
“If you look at Lakewood there are plenty of dive bars, but there is a need for an authentic sports bar,” says owner Shawn Botkins, who for years worked with the building’s new owners, The George Group. Since 2001, Bodkins, who is Tony George’s brother-in-law, worked as the company’s “turn-around guy.” He has since left the business.
While Botkins says he respected the improvements Pat Sullivan did to the space, they did not necessarily fit his concept. “The Irish theme has run its course,” he says.
The characteristic snug Irish cubbies have been completely removed to open up the space, creating an open-air feel that maximizes visibility. For what you ask? How about 16 50-inch flat screens? All that remains of Sullivan’s are the archways, hard wood floors, and wood trim finishes.
Brew 133 is “a bar first, not restaurant first,” says Botkins. But, he adds, it will be a destination location that will “make you want to come for the game and then stay after.” A kitchen serving bar food like burgers and wings well into the night should induce sports fans to stick around.
Bar games like bowling and Skee-Ball will join video games like Golden Tee in a separate section away from the main dining room. Everywhere else, TVs will broadcast anything and everything sports related, including UFC pay-per-view and the NFL Package. Also, look for live entertainment on the weekends.
The name comes not only from the first three digits in the address, but also the emphasis on “brew.” “We are excited to work with a local brewer to develop our own beer that will be dedicated as one of our 24 draft handles,” explains Bodkins.
The patio also has undergone a small renovation, but the outdoor fireplace remains. The bar will open at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and earlier for lunch on the weekends.
Look for an opening around the first week of July.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2013.
Hmmm….I can remember a few sports bars that tried to succeed in Lakewood, and none of them ever lasted. Best of luck though!!!
Can we possibly get our mugs we paid for???
Yea I want my mug too…..
Another Cliche Sports Bar.
I want my mug!
Hazzah !! Finally, LKWD really needs a sports bar ! C’mon guys another “sports” bar ? There’s a business concept called differentiation. You might want to Google it. Did you guys do any market research ? The parking sucks, so you’re already limiting yourself to the East end of LKWD. You need to give people a reason to come and frankly, you haven’t got one. I live in the center of LKWD. Why am I going to go to Brew 133 instead of the Lizard or Pacers ?
Irish bar has run its course? Yeah right there’s 1 million sports bars out there! an authentic Irish Pub with your own mug and the ability to break away in a “cubby” to have a private conversation was what made this place special! Ohhh but let’s not discount the 16 new 50 inch TVs!!!! Wow that should make this place better then any other sports bar out there with 15 tv’s right??? Yea, I think not! I will visit this place once and that will be to get my F’in MUG BACK!!!
Better have our mugs set aside for us to claim or i will never set foot in this bar again. Cant just close and not let people come get their paid for property without any notice.
disagree that the Irish theme has run its course. There are quite a few Irish themed bars in Lakewood and Westpark, however none had the authentic pub feel of Sullivans. This was a genuine pub and a great place to go for some conversation, some Irish offerings on the menu, some conversation and a great place to be when they had live music. I do not agree that a bar first atmosphere with some kitchen and lots of TV’s is something that Lakewood does not already have in abundance. The big room at winking lizard, quaker steak, Johnny Malloy’s and too many smaller places to mention already fill the need.
WE SAVED YOUR MUGS! The previous owner locked up and hit the road. Myself and business partner Tim bought the biz and read on line the frustration of all mug owners. We will do all we can to get those mugs back in your hands. I am at the bar Monday thru Friday 6a-4p and sat as well but not so early. Please come say hello to Tim and I we look forward to meeting you and finding ur mug. Thanks, Shawn.
Shawn Botkins sounds like a dickhead in this.
I wish Capsule was coming back. Oh well.
Since I live on the street the bar is located on I am not to happy about a sports bar. When Sullivan’s wanted to open residents didn’t want a bar but said we would if it was restaurant
first. Parking was only a problem on St Patrick’s, now it looks like it will be all the time.
NOT HAPPY, but will come up to get my mug!
I got my mug back today. I wish the new guys the best of luck opening the place. They’re not the ones who shuttered Sullivans after all.
Must suck to hear the community’s response, realize you’re never going to make your money back and then continue to sink your savings into opening the place. A sports bar… really though?
Irish has run its course? Try going down to “Little Dublin” (AKA The Green Mile) along Lorain Ave. That theme took a run-down stretch with one biker bar (Smedley’s) and turned it into a busy strip, and the busiest place in town for St. Paddy’s Day…and yes, it’s spelled right.
Those joints aren’t exactly dying during football season, or March Madness, or even when the Tribe is playing well. Gee, another sports bar? How about an Irish sports bar? Or a sports-oriented Irish bar? Oh, wait…we already have those. McIntyre’s is one. I guess Lakewood needs another McIntyre’s…best of luck, guys.
And one less place to hear good music, from the sound of it. Just another place to tear one’s hair out while drinking and watching the home team lose.
Hey…are there still any folks out there who like jazz? The West Side needs a good jazz bar. But I think most of the jazz-lovers are now with Brubeck and Coltrane and Louie. As in…dead.
Chuckles the Clown
The owner tosses a real sucker punch in stating “there are plenty of dive bars” in the city. In this business, fads in marketing take a faster dive than placing a premium on old-school business values.
Are you sure any of you people live in Lakewood? Most of the bars in Lakewood especially along Madison are dive bars. Only 2 bars in Lakewood are true sports bars Quaker Steak, and Winking Lizard both are restaurant based. Pacers is hardly a sports bar and not very blue collar friendly. The Sullivan’s made the decision to shut the doors due to over priced food and lack of customers in general. The opening of Brew 133 is a positive for the city and community as a whole. It sounds like most of you would rather get your mugs and leave a beautiful building empty than try and support an up and coming business. I live two blocks away and I am looking forward to a freshly remodeled establishment instead of torn carpet, pealing paint, and dirty taps, AKA “DIVE BAR” which consume Madison Ave. If you must get your Irish fix PJ Macintyre’s is just a hop and a skip with excellent food and live music. Bring On the Brew!
Really “SupportTheBrew”? You’re going to continue dissing Lakewood while promoting your business and pretending to be a bystander like we are stupid? You really think opening your sports bar “is a positive for the city and community as a whole”? Did you really think we were going to believe your phony post?
“SupportTheBrew” sounds like a douchenozzle.
supportthebrew missed the point, and the history. To say Sullivan’s closed because of lack of customers is a little like saying falling won’t kill you but the sudden stop when you hit the ground will. Sullivan’s closed because the original owner sold the business to someone who promptly mismanaged the business, in my opinion, by firing staff to the point where the quality of service and product suffered. there was a cascading of problems caused to the point where folks just stopped going.
I get disoriented when there are more than one or two televisions in a place.
Hate that Sullivans closed. That place was a real gem. If you’re looking for another good Irish place and willing to drive, check out Green Island.
free mugs what?
I went to pick up my mug last week! You will find that the new owner Shawn is a cool guy, but I can understand from this article why people get the wrong impression. Shawn was nice enough to show me around the place (even when I could see he was in the middle of cleaning 1/2 inch thick dust off all the light fixtures, eek!). I got to see all the new renovations and upgrades to the kitchen and bar/seating area. He also informed me that he was able to donate most of the books from the “library” to a local girl that had sentimenal value to her. Much to look forward to with this new place in town. My advice is, if you miss our Sullivan’s, then be upset with the former owner that couldn’t get the job done to keep the doors open. I can tell from all the renovations that the new ownership values the customer and that they don’t want a dirty, dark dive bar experience. If you are in the mood for the”dive bar” experience there are plenty on Madison Ave. I agree there are plenty of places to go watch a game on a big screen TV. Not a new concept, from the looks of it, will be a new clean environment to enjoy a drink, burger, and catch a game. I’ll give these guys a try once they open. -Big Al
The new owner is right that there are too many goddamn Irish bars in the area. But not enough sports bars? Did they do a Google search? A quick drive down Detroit? Malloy’s, Quaker Steak, Lizard, Pacer’s, WoB…
I’m that local girl who got the books. The owners stopped up at my job to eat and were thinking of names for a bar… When it came out that it was the old Sullivans I told them the story behind my attachment to those books and they went out of their way to give them to me.
They were all decent down to earth guys who had nothing to gain at all from doing that so I suggest you reserve your snap character assessments for someone who’s actually nefarious.
Sports bars work all over the place. There are 60+ bars in Lakewood alone, I’m sure most concepts are represented and typically if the place is well run, with consistently good drink, food and service it will at least enjoy mild success. …….As far as the comment on the “jazz bar” needs of the area – have you been to Vosh yet on riverside? It’s a nice jazz and blues club right in Lakewood’s west end…..
To all the mug people, grow up it’s a mug! The new owners owe you nothing! If you people don’t like the Sports Bar idea, take your life savings and all of your free time for the rest of your lives and open up a bar of your own!
The owners are all drunks and will drink away whatever small profit they make. 6 months tops a new place will be moving in there.
How did your great idea end up working out for ya? We aren’t stupid enough to take our life savings to open up a bar. We have nothing to prove. A “sports bar” …. revolutionary idea… bravo .. bravo..