SOLON — Buff’s GAMEDAY sports bar opened on Sept. 1 and has provided a new and unique venue to downtown Solon. The bar and grill, located in the former Red Vespa location, brings a true sports bar to the community.
“I just felt like there was something missing from a sports aspect,” said owner Jason Buffington. “Solon is big on sports, no one really catered to the sports fan; so, I thought a sports bar would go well.” The question though, was where to locate one. “A few years back, I thought this building had a lot of character and thought it would be a pretty neat adventure to bring a sports bar to Solon, and when this came open, everything just fell into place.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bar without at least one TV up on the wall. But what separates a bar from a sports bar? Jason explained, “First and foremost it’s the TVs. You’ve got to have the TVs and the atmosphere. I try to cater to everybody. Yes, I’ve got my favorite teams, but I also cater to everybody; if they want something, or if they’ve got a favorite team, I tell them bring something in and I’ll hang it.
Our plan (when we started), our number one thing, was to create a cool atmosphere and we thought this building had it, and we’d make it a ‘bar feel’ with high-top tables and TVs; and then have the options of watching multiple college games, multiple NFL games, baseball games…whatever sport is in-season. I can cater to more than one or two people.”
Buff’s also shows live streams of Solon athletics, and even had the State Football Championships on as Mount Vernon was tangling with (and losing to) Harlan.
Enhancing the atmosphere is a variety of sports items on the walls. “We mix-in some different teams, we support the Solon teams, there’s a lot of Iowa fans so we try to throw-in a special once in a while. It’s not just the décor, but the atmosphere is relaxed. The bartenders, the servers, are cheerful, talk with everyone, check back with them, just making sure they really feel comfortable like a true neighborhood bar.”
The community has embraced Buff’s, he said. “Just can’t thank the community enough, I get a lot of out-of-towners as well, even a lot of repeat out-of-towners as well that come back. We keep it simple here, we have a very small menu, but we try to do quality and to do it consistently. Business has been really good. We’re that later, 3-11 atmosphere. Lunch (crowds) is hit-or-miss but that’s Solon. We don’t have a lot of industry here so there’s not a wave of lunch patrons, but we’ll learn through that, and we’ll change things up, we’ll change hours and do what makes sense; not just for us, but for the community as well.
In addition to the sports memorabilia and many TVs, another key aspect making Buff’s unique is a hold-over from the Red Vespa, namely the famous brick wood-fired pizza oven. “Currently it goes on every Sunday, we do pizzas only on Sunday, right now. We fire it up early in the morning and we cook pizzas all day. As the kitchen staff expands, we will open up more days for pizza as well.” Jason said it was his hope that before the end of the year, Buff’s will be able to offer pizza two-to-three days per week.
“Right now, our biggest seller is our seven-ounce burger, (which is) always fresh and seasoned. One of our other big sellers is our Ruzicka’s pork burger, that’s one thing we decided to sell once we opened, that why wait until Beef Days to get a Ruzicka’s pork burger when we’ll serve it year-round. We sell a lot of them,” he added. “It’s a good deal. We sell a pork burger basket with sides for under $10, which nowadays is hard to come by. Our house-made chips, fries, cheese curds (from a dairy near Waukon), onion rings, tater tots; they’re all big-sellers. Again, we keep it (the menu) very small, and we just try to be very consistent and very good.” Some expansion of the menu is in the works coinciding with expanding the equipment and capabilities of the kitchen and adding a bit more staff.
“I’m very happy with the staff we’ve got, I think a lot of restaurants would be jealous for the size of the bar/grill that we are, we probably have more staff than most. I feel very fortunate with the team that I’ve got.”
Buff’s is open Monday and Wednesday through Sunday (closed Tuesdays).
Monday – 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. (depending on business).
“I say depending, because if there’s a good game on, we’ll stay open if people are watching it,” he said.
Wednesday through Sunday – 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (also subject to change)
Jason added hours may change to a later opening, and later closings. Also, kitchen hours (currently the kitchen closes at 8:00 p.m.) may be extended as well.
Happy Hour – 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. all six days.
“We’ve got draft specials, tallboy specials, and cocktail specials. We try to cater to everybody and we’re evolving as we go.” For example, if there is a beer or liquor not on their list, Jason said they’re happy to look into adding it.
“It’s just been a great adventure,” he said. “When we set out to make this it was more or less to compliment the Solon downtown. Big Grove, Doug (Goettsch) and his team, they’ve revolutionized this town in my opinion. If you were here prior to Big Grove, there’s no doubt everyone saw the change whether it’s how we re-did the parking downtown, the city invested in itself, and the growth took off. Big Grove, in my opinion, was a big part of that.” With Buff’s, Jason said he wanted to compliment the growth and development while filling what he saw as an un-met need.
“We filled a niche that wasn’t here, and we welcome anyone and everyone, and we’re looking forward to having some fun.”
Buff’s GAMEDAY
208 East Main St.
319-624-2080
https://buffsgameday.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/BuffGAMEDAY
The famous brick, wood-fired oven from The Red Vespa remains in-service at Buff’s GAMEDAY Sports Bar in downtown Solon.