Kilroys on Kirkwood retains old charm with new look

The Sunday-night crowd at Kilroy’s on Kirkwood was a bit sparse. A small gathering of freshly moved-in college students were noshing on burgers and the bar’s famous stuffed breadsticks, while seated in the outdoor patio area.

At a passing glance, nothing seemed to have changed. But a quick look through the open-air windows of the newly renovated Kilroy’s shows a true transformation.

Complete with granite countertops, new flooring and an upstairs bar with leather booths, Kilroy’s seems to have taken a fresh breath. Workers still wear T-shirts and make small talk with guests; friends still hug and laugh at each other’s jokes. The only thing slightly changed is the atmosphere.

“I like the old Kilroy’s, but we opened it up, and it’s actually a great change,” bartender Eric Bergman said. “If you don’t want to deal with the crowd, the raging and the noise of downstairs, you can go upstairs and have a nice conversation with your friends in a more intimate setting.  Plus, the new windows create a more open feel to the whole building.”

Senior and MBA student Kevin King said the bar’s new facade is a great place for incoming students to make new memories, but also for the regulars to remember the good times that they had at the original bar.

“I like the new place, but I also like that they brought in a new flavor while keeping remnants of what the old bar was like,” King said.

Renovations of the bar began in early June and are still in progress. Maggie Prall, co-owner and manager of Kilroy’s, said the current overhaul seems almost never-ending.

“We still have a lot to do,” Prall said. “The lighting and the patio aren’t fully done yet, even though we really tried to push to get it all done before the students came back.”

Prall and her construction staff utilized the efforts of about 30 Kilroy’s employees to help with the summer revamp, which cost around $8 million.

With all of the changes, Kilroy’s has ultimately seen an upswing in business during its recent summer reopening. The bar reopened on Aug. 18, a mere 12 days before the official start of IU classes.

“Every day it’s getting busier because there’s a huge increase in space,” server Josh Rodgers said. “And the more comfortable and enjoyable our bar is, the more business we will see.”

Despite all of the aesthetic changes the bar has seen, Kilroy’s on Kirkwood still remains a family-owned and run business. Prall and her brother David inherited the responsibility of co-owning the business from their parents.

“We had such a great time remodeling this place that I only see the minor imperfections as character,” Prall said.  “This was us bringing the bar into the new generation, and it came along really well.”