In a city full of bar food, Downtown's Swingin’ Door Exchange manages to stand out. They are maybe not as well-known as some of their suburban counterparts that have amenities like free parking and more square footage, but the food and atmosphere are worth seeking out in this charming tavern.
There’s been a bar at this site officially since 1933 when Prohibition ended, but unofficially, it’s not hard to imagine there was a speakeasy operating here before then. It doesn't feel like much has changed inside the bar since, with its dark wood paneling and back bar, vintage beer memorabilia and huge, red, stained-glass window that casts a deep glow over the bar in such a way that it's impossible not to imagine it as a surreptitious speakeasy.
What has changed is the food. When owners K.C. Swan and Shelly Sincere bought the bar in 2010, they started making almost everything on the menu from scratch, right down to the salad dressings, potato chips and soups.
The menu is made up of mostly sandwiches, plus appetizers, burgers, substantial salads and a few entrées. One of the best things on the menu, the ultra-crunchy, cornflake-crusted chicken breast, shows up in a number of items, including an appetizer of chicken sliders ($5-$9) and the 4 Cs salad ($10) with the chicken sliced on top of a spring green mix with a pile of pepper jack cheese and a mildly spiced Cajun ranch. The crunchy chicken sandwich ($10.50) is where it really shines though, with at least three (sometimes four or five) flat pieces of chicken barely contained on a sesame roll. It's huge, difficult to bite into and perfect for crunch lovers.
Deli-style sandwiches like Shelly’s tuna salad ($8.50) and a club ($10.50) with shaved ham or turkey and bacon, come on lightly toasted bread with veggies that are always fresh. They make the veggie melt ($9.50), grilled on multigrain with tomato, avocado, onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, cucumber and cheese, better than your average token vegetarian sandwich option. Other melts, like the grilled Russian ($11.50) with roast beef, slaw and cheeses, are grilled on a soft marble rye.
A patty melt ($10) is one of the best renditions in the city, on that same rye with grilled, chopped onions, plenty of cheese and a grilled, hand-pattied and well-seasoned half-pound burger patty. Or get a burger ($8.50) on a substantial, sesame seed-studded bun. They cook it to your requested temp, so if you like your burgers rare, you'll love it here. Order it cowboy style ($2.50) to add cheddar, homemade sweet and tangy barbecue sauce and smokey bacon. If that’s not big enough for you, the Big KC burger ($12.50) with cheeses, grilled onions, roast beef, bacon and mayo, might be calling your name.
All sandwiches come with a choice of side, and they cannot be overlooked here. The standout is the spicy vermouth carrots, which are shaved thinly and have a nice char to them. They're only mildly spicy in a black pepper sort of way, but the vermouth gives them a little bit of a boozy bite. Homemade potato chips, grilled beets and coleslaw are all solid, but the fries are one of the few frozen items here, so choose wisely.
The half dozen or so entrées make the white tablecloths on the dining room side of the tavern feel like they belong. Baby back ribs ($16-$23) fall off the bone too easily, but that’s probably a good thing when they're not smoked. Ahi tuna steak ($14-$21) is served rare or blackened, and the one steak option is a 10-ounce New York strip ($20).
Like many bars, daily specials are popular here, especially with the office worker crowd at lunch. Mondays are hot dog days, for example, with $3 Chicago style, Western or chili cheese dogs. (The homemade meaty chili, available almost every day along with one or two other soups, has a brothy tomato base with celery and peppers.) Fridays are reserved for fish fry, of course, with perch, cod and shrimp, plus hash brown-like potato pancakes.
The bar at Swingin’ Door is a great place to relax whether you’re just stopping in before an event or watching a game after work. Even if you’re not planning to eat, with specials like three for $5 cans of PBR and Hamm’s, it might just be a good idea to get something to eat anyway. You know it'll be good.
