On your average Friday or Saturday night, you’ll be hard pressed to get into Lairs Club without waiting in line. Since it opened on March 16, 2007, it has quickly become the center of nightlife for much of the metro.
Situated on the corner of 3rd and Court downtown Des Moines, Liars Club occupies half of the second floor of Court Center. The building is also home to Legends American Grill, A.K. O’Connor’s, C.C. Taft and Company, People’s Court and Backstage Bar.
Liars Club owners Jeremy Mahler, Frankie Farrell and Earl Ramey never thought they’d hit a home run with the club. “We were hoping it would do well, but it was more just being optimistic while walking on glass,” Mahler says about their thoughts before they opened and the constant flood of people started.
He attributes a lot of credit to the founders of Full Court Press who own a number of the more popular downtown bars including Hessen Haus, El Bait Shop, Royal Mile, Buzzard Billy’s and High Life Lounge. “They were down here first when there was nothing else,” Mahler says. "They were the first ones to see the potential for a downtown resurgence."
Farrell and Mahler have experience bartending and managing bars all over Des Moines and the country, from the east coast to the west. Ramey brought the experience of already being a business owner. The bar is a culmination of what they thought worked in other bars and a lot of their own unique ideas.
Mahler says they know what it takes to make the average Des Moines bar successful: play top 40 music, serve the norm on tap and heavily advertise your drink specials. They took that knowledge and threw it out the window.
When walking in the door of Liars Club, the first thought is of a punk rock bar. The art work on the walls is reminiscent of tattoos and old school rock and roll posters are plastered everywhere. Upon closer inspection, leather booths and dark wood make the place seem homier and more inviting to central Iowans.
Pinball machines and pool tables line the far wall, complete with a photo booth. High top tables surround the sunk-in bar. The DJ booth resides above the bar, giving a panoramic view of the entire place.
A crow’s nest sound booth isn’t even the most unique architectural feature in Liars Club. You might feel a little like a Peeping-Tom when washing your hands in the bathroom. The mirrors give bar patrons a glimpse into the other sex’s side.
If you’re thinking that maybe you’re a little too old to be hitting the punk rock scene, think again. Bartender Jason Garnett, says they get people of all ages. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a suit grabbing a beer after work or a kid in torn up jeans playing pinball, you’ll feel right at home.
Garnett says, “The music and environment are versatile and unimposing.” He attributes the bar’s wide demographic to the owners and the staff. Each of them have a different network of people and they bring them all into the club.
Since Thanksgiving of 2006 when they started teaser advertising, they have stirred up a lot of controversy. Mahler calls a young boy in a sailor suit smoking a cigarette their mascot. He is featured on their website and in their original ads.
Mahler says when he looks in the mirror he doesn’t see a thirtysomething man covered in tattoos, but a little boy having the time of his life. He feels that the kids represent naughtiness but with an innocence, which is a great representation of the personalities of the three owners.
The advertisements have definitely gotten noticed and caused a strong reaction in the community. Some people love them; others think they are tasteless. Either way, you cannot deny they are unique in the Des Moines market. Framed copies of the ads have even been showing up on eBay and selling like hot cakes.
The ads aren’t the only things selling well. Mahler and Garnett both say top-shelf liquor requests are topped only by bottled domestic beer. Although they have only had drink specials for a couple of months, they believe specials don’t matter. Patrons order what they like, regardless of nightly deals.
When Mahler, Ramey and Farrell reflect back, they only have one thing they would do differently. Next time they want an office that’s bigger than a shoe box. If that’s their biggest mistake, I’d say they’re doing alright, and that’s no lie.
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