Jon A.
Yelp
Vonnegut wrote, "And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, If this isn't nice, I don't know what is," in A Man Without a Country. Welp, here at the Red Key, if you think you're on an island, this place will turn you right around & you'll be murmuring all night,"If this isn't nice, I don't know what is." Maybe just the same way Vonnegut did when he frequented here.
It hasn't changed. Sure President Obama & the U.S. Mint believe in change, but some things are better left exactly the way they were built.
Same juke box (and if you are intimated by the seemingly stoic vibe..don't be! Play that music...those stoic faces will just take it as a poignant siren call to order another one).
There's a lot of lore about the "rules of Russ," at this place -- where you're suppose to hang up your coat, drink out of a glass, etc. etc. My coat was on my chair, I was drinking out of a bottle, I wore a scruffed beard, and even at times had my knees up at the bar. These rules...seem to just say, "hey, don't be an idiot." Because when some Colts football look alikes straggled in asking for food after 11pm...they were booted pretty quickly.
It's small sure...but there's times when the tables are open and make for a great way to lubricate a date right away, or even a double date.
The wait staff are sweet hearts and massively attentive.
The burger is the closest thing I've got to my grandpa's Memorial Day burger. Meaning: just let them cook it the way they want to.
The cocktails are the best value here. Value as in Stiff. Stiff as in if you didn't think you were a 1955 business man...you will be after your next one.
Note: Closed on Sundays.
"Cash Only," but they have a ATM in bar.