SugarBowl Bar & Grille: One Of Kalamazoo’s Last Traditional Dive Bars

Many people have experienced the prototypical movie lifestyle where they are going to the same bar almost every night after work and the bartender knows their name and asks them if they want their regular. Going to the bar has almost become a part of the American lifestyle, although we still have nothing on the Irish.

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Many times, when people are frequenting a bar, they don't want everyone to know. So, this leads to them choosing to be patrons at some of the more hidden/lowkey bars that are committed to remaining true to themselves. You know, the bars with cheap beer, dim lights, and a faint cigarette smoke smell.

These are called dive bars and many of them have been open for decades. Recently, many of these bars didn't come back from the COVID-19 shutdown or have struggled since then and have since shut their doors. Meanwhile, there are others that have been holding on and getting just enough new and old faces to keep the place alive.

Have You Ever Been To Or Heard Of SugarBowl Bar and Grille?

One couple took the chance to revive one of the long-standing dive bars in Kalamazoo after it was almost dead back in 2022. The SugarBowl Bar and Grille which is on the corner of Washington Ave and Portage St. The bar has been open since 1943 and has been in this current location since the 1960s.

MLive via MSN reports:

For nearly two years — about two to three times per week — Andy Craigo would head to the SugarBowl Bar & Grille after work to grab a drink. Each time, he thought to himself, “Man, this place is like a diamond in the rough.” He’d scheme different things he’d do if he owned the bar.  It was different than any place he’d been to, but reminded him of the dives in Portland, Oregon, where he’d spent years of his life.

In December 2022, Craigo and his partner, Hannah Rice, got the opportunity to purchase the Edison neighborhood haunt. “We were fearless,” Rice said. “Andy has a food background, has been in the food industry for years and years. So we kind of just went with that. We knew the kitchen would be successful, and then we’d kind of learn everything else.”

They said they liked the history of the bar and didn't want to change too much, keeping the place as much like a dive bar as they could. They have Bingo is every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and karaoke or live music every Friday and Saturday to bring the old school fun back.