Fat Wally's

I've been to Fat Wally's quite a few times and for anyone who knows me, this wouldn't be too much of a surprise. I've often wondered how this downtown, basement Pool Hall has stayed open for so long since there is never anyone there. I've also wondered why there is never anyone there. It's a super cool place with a lot of character and a million (closer to 30) pool tables. Fat Wally's is located on 2nd Ave right up the street from all the popular downtown bars and is in the basement of the building with Tycoon. After a little bit of awkwardness with the only bartender I've ever seen at Fat Wally's, we finally managed to strike up a conversation. The owner of Fat Wally's happens to be the owner of the entire building as well as the owner of the building Brick's is in. He was our bartender that night! He let us in on some fascinating history about his buildings as well as little tidbits about Cedar Rapids. Ever heard of Duck Pin? Nope, not us either. But Fat Wally's was a Duck Pin Alley back in the 1940's. The pins are a little smaller and the "bowling ball" is the size of a softball with no holes. High school kids were hired to be the "pin setters" in this alley and there is still carvings, "Susie <3 Pete" in the walls where they worked. We were really not interested in going to Fat Wally's but after two hours of conversation we were really glad we had gone...this guy is a walking History Channel, and we couldn't get enough! I'm not going to give you the full story here, but next time you are at Brick's look at the statue at the top of the building on the front... I bet you've never noticed that one before!