At Papa Lou’s, Word of Mouth Begins With a Smile

If you wanted to create the perfect bar, what better way to start than to hire a bar manager named Johnnie Walker?
    Stacey Van Den Brouk, who owns Papa Lou’s bar and restaurant along with his mother, Debbie Horton, did just that.
    “It’s right there on his birth certificate,” Van Den Brouk chuckles. “We always try to keep one step ahead.”
    Johnnie Walker (the bar manager) says, “I’m actually Johnnie Walker the second. My dad is the first. He has red hair. I have black. They call us Johnnie Walker Red and Johnnie Walker Black.”
    It makes sense, having none other than Johnnie Walker run your bar. Van Den Brouk’s dream, after all, was to take elements from all the bars he’s visited on his travels and incorporate them into the ultimate watering hole. Located in northern Michigan, with a view of Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan, Papa Lou’s hasn’t missed a trick of the trade.

A Lifetime of Love
    “I’ve taken a lifetime of loving bars and put it to good use,” Van Den Brouk says.
The establishment occupies a historic 1905 brick building with original hardwood floors, featuring a basement and two stories, each with a full bar, plus two decks overlooking the bay.
    “The most common comment we get is ‘You guys are so far ahead,’” Van Den Brouk explains. “We’ve worked hard for our customers to feel that way. We have video DJing, poker nights, karaoke nights, ladies nights and we have DJs and bands. I’ve basically taken everything I like about other bars and made those things a part of Papa Lou’s, putting our own spin on all the great ideas.
    “We try to do everything right. For example, we have over 80,000 songs available for our karaoke night.”
    Van Den Brouk calls his bouncers “regulators.” At last call, the bartenders blow a horn taken from a semi truck. One could even argue that there are two incarnations of Papa Lou’s.
“The first floor is more quiet, where you can have a conversation. The second floor is where we have the bands and things get rowdy,” Van Den Brouk says. “But we’ve set up cameras, and if you’re on the first floor, you can watch the band and people dancing and partying on the second floor. You can talk and relax but you don’t have to miss out on anything.”
When a bar sets itself up to be all things to all people, it can get packed. Van Den Brouk, says Papa Lou’s is thriving.
    “We really pump out the drinks,” he says. “We have two cocktailers going full blast. When it gets hot, we sometimes hose down the crowd. Once a month, we always have a theme party.”
    The passion for originality can be seen in the menu, too. “We have a big menu.    Award-winning pizza, grinders, burgers, salads, steaks. We’re especially proud of our pizzas.” So proud, in fact, that they guarantee them. The motto is: “If you order a pizza and don’t like it, we’ll buy it back and eat it ourselves.”
    Van Den Brouk and Walker laugh when it comes to describing the t-shirts they sell. One t-shirt pertains to their pizza, with “You’ll Never Forget Your First Piece!” emblazoned on it. Walker has equipped his bartenders with memorable t-shirts that are also for sale to customers.
    “People get a kick out of them,” Van Den Brouk says. “They say: ‘My
bartender can beat up your therapist.’ It’s great advertising.”

Proactive Mixology
    The drive for fun, to make the Papa Lou’s experience an extravaganza, has fueled proactivity to keep the cocktail menu fresh. Van Den Brouk says that Papa Lou’s is always looking for new recipes.
    “We’re trying to launch a whole new trend right now. Everybody has been doing Martinis to death. We’re doing Rumtinis. We’re calling it Libations in a New Direction,” Van Den Brouk says.
    The Dan Zing of Youth Rumtini is made with 2 ounces of Agwa De Bolivia, an ounce of Bacardi Limon and 2 ounces of lemonade. The Devil in a Blue Dress is made with 2 ounces of Bacardi Razz rum, an ounce of Shakka grape liqueur, a splash of Blue Curacao and lemonade and club soda. There’s a Cookies-N-Cream Rumtini, made with an ounce of vanilla rum, an ounce of Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, half an ounce of Cream De Cacao Dark, half an ounce of Buttershots and two ounces of milk — garnished by rimming the inside of the glass with chocolate syrup and then dipping it in crushed Oreos.
    Papa Lou’s has plenty of ice cold beer on hand, with 10 taps, and, of course, they offer wine and various drink specials.
    Year-round promotions also keep Papa profitable. This summer brought a Toga party sponsored by Agwa de Bolivia and a Hot Bod Bikini contest sponsored by Devine Vodka, a Michigan-based distiller that makes its vodka from grapes.
    Another Papa Lou’s sponsor is Leinenkugel.
    “We love the Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, but they told us they only did bottles,” Van Den Brouk explains. “Well, I told them I didn’t have any more room in our coolers for bottles. I wanted kegs. They said the only way they’d provide kegs is if we took 12 of them. I said, bring ‘em. Boy, we went through those kegs fast.”
    Van Den Brouk is happy when his customers are happy. He and his right-hand-man Johnnie Walker will go to any length to keep Papa Lou’s patrons coming back with big smiles.
“You can do any kind of marketing you want, but there’s nothing that beats word of mouth,” Van Den Brouk opines. “When people have a blast, they’