Fred's Bar & Grill arrives at last call
Tables were packed at Fred's Bar & Grill Friday as the long-time Jacobsville hangout prepared for last call.
The property at Read and West Virginia streets is being taken by ECHO Housing Corp. It will close after business on Saturday. Fred Willman, the business's owner, bartender, grillmaster and philosopher-in-chief, is retiring.
Fans of Fred's filled the dining room at Friday's lunch hour to pay their respects. A bouquet of flowers with a "Thanks for the Memories" sign sat on a pool table.
The business was popular with the surrounding neighborhood's working class, who enjoyed its convenience as well as its cheeseburgers.
"I started coming about 10 years ago because my wife and her family had been coming for the last 30 years," said Ed Parker, an Evansville firefighter who works at nearby Station 10. " ... It's also a firefighters' hangout. Guys will come have a great time here."
"You can't replace Fred," said Parker's wife, Katie Riecken Parker.
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The Parkers' friend Ron Crane agreed. "We always like helping out the little guy, anyway," he said. "These family-style restaurants are kind of short-lived now. Everybody's closing up and big guys are taking over."
Numerous workers from Deaconess Health System came over for lunch Friday. Michele Jolly has been with Deaconess for 36 years, a time that encompassed quite a few Fred's lunches.
"Cheeseburgers and fries," Jolly said when asked what she like the most. "That, and the staff. Their employees are just great. Fred is great and the waitresses are awesome. They are just great people."
For Phil Strange, who had lunch Friday and planned to return on Saturday's last day, Fred's "is just like home. You can come in and don't have to worry about anybody bothering you. It's just a good atmosphere. You see people from all walks of life."
Willman sold his liquor license, and ECHO Housing Corp. bought the land. The housing agency does not have a plan for the property yet but has said it likely will remain a commercial use.
"It's zoned like that, and it's a great corner location, with an alley behind it," Stephanie TenBarge, director of ECHO, said earlier this month. "It lends itself to (commercial use)."
