Ice, Ice Baby
Smoked Meat and Beer in a Garage

By now, you’re looking ahead a couple weeks to some well-earned days off.

But we say: not so fast.

First, it’s time to look forward to this weekend, and a new hidden haven of simple drinking and smoked meat: welcome to American Ice Co., opening Thursday night.

It used to be a garage for a roofing company, and before that, an icehouse, but now it’s your spot for beers—lots of them—and Southern-style meats.

To get here, you’ll turn off the main drag and walk a few steps down V Street until you see a large concrete wall. Push open the heavy metal door, stroll through the small courtyard (more on that this spring) and enter a no-frills room of distressed brick, concrete floors and steel.

If you’re with a big group before a 9:30 show, you’ll want to grab some metal stools around one of the long high-top tables and order a round of bourbons, which may or may not come out in glass jars.

But for a smaller, more drawn-out affair, you’ll want to gather in one of the oak booths along the right side, the best spot to settle in with one of their canned beers, like Back in Black from San Francisco or Old Speckled Hen.

From there, you’ll peruse the ever-changing chalkboard menu above the bar, which might include smoked turkey, pork shoulder with homemade hot sauce, potato salad or even housemade Slim Jims.

Which also make a nice swizzle stick for your bourbon.