While on Facebook one recent night, I happened upon a page for the Krazee Kafe. In its “about” section was this description: “Tanning-Hair Salon-Cereal Bar/Cafe-with a full sports bar.” According to its photo galleries, Krazee Kafe also recently hosted a homemade bikini contest.
Such a place couldn’t possibly be real. It sounded more like someone placed a bunch of ideas in a hat, then dumped the hat upside down and said, “Let’s do them all!”
Turns out the description is accurate, if a little preemptive. The tanning portion is still in the works, but you can get your hair cut there while having a drink, eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and drinking a martini.
But why?
“Long story short, there’s good money in tanning, but there’s also highs and lows,” said co-owner Denny Blackford, 37. “I was looking to do something with a different angle, and that’s where the bar came in.”
And the cereal. Krazee Kafe has a wall of cereal dispensers, 30 in total. $3 gets you a 16-ounce bowl, $5 for 32 ounces. The bar currently opens at 11 a.m. daily, but Blackford said that will soon change to 6 a.m. That’s prime breakfast-serving time.
I stopped in on a Thursday night, which is bike night. The bar was packed with guys in biker cuts (and one guy in a polo and khakis), making it feel like a casting call for “Sons of Anarchy.” That’s kind of fitting, since the bar does show “SOA” on the big screen on Tuesday nights. But you’ll notice it’s not exactly a “Biker/Tanning-Hair Salon-Cereal Bar/Cafe-with a full sports bar.” Krazee Kafe just seems to offer a little something for everyone.
Thursdays also feature live band karaoke with the Wilder Side Band. The group has a list of a few hundred songs they know, and the words show up on a TV screen a la regular karaoke.
The bar also hosts charity rides, live music several times a month (Heidi Newfield performs Nov. 11) and $10 all-you-can-drink beer during Sunday and Monday NFL games. It’s not just Bud Light and Coors Light either. Blue Moon and Shiner Bock are in the mix.
And if you’ve got a homemade bikini you’re dying to show off, that contest will return on New Year’s Eve.
The bar is admittedly a little strange, but that’s to Krazee Kafe’s credit. It’s a bit of everything, rolled into one. Will it work? Who knows, but it’s clear that they’re aiming above and beyond friendly neighborhood watering hole.
