A tip o' the Tam

Stamper's Grill Pub brings the spirit of Lakewood legend to Fairview Park

Friday, June 18, 2004 - Tim Piai Special to The Plain Dealer

Want your bar to be a fixture on the West Side? Wait about 30 years.

It's no secret that this area prefers a dash of tradition with its pint of Guinness. So how can it be, then, that in less than six years since opening its doors, Stamper's Grill Pub in Fairview Park has all the makings of a mainstream neighborhood classic?

For one thing, it's big, clean and casually classy as neighborhood pubs go. Compared to the "worn" persona found in most bars of character, Stamper's is downright glossy. (It's what the owners describe as "Bringing the neighborhood bar into the 21st century.")

But perhaps to truly understand how this pub has drawn so many, so quickly, one must truly believe in the afterlife of bars - a sudsy little leap of faith that would help explain why Stamper's possesses the soul of one of Lakewood's most legendary watering holes, the late, often great, Tam O'Shanter.

Ask anyone who spent a couple of lifetimes at the Tam and they'd probably agree that it was something special - an almost magical melting pot of West Side regulars where age and attitude melted away, along with the distinction between family and friends.

No matter how many things changed in this tiny tavern over the years, its luminous spirit never seemed to wane.

And the soul possession part? That's not entirely a case of poetic license. It's more like a branch from the family tree of bars.

That's because Stamper's co-owners, Jim and Mary Stamper, cut all of their tavern teeth at the Tam. Jim began managing the Tam when he turned 21 in 1972.

So when Mary's father (and Tam owner) Max Norton passed away and the bar closed, the pair - along with their partners and friends, Jim and Susan Smith - knew they already had a bona fide blueprint for success.

"Whatever we did, we knew that the feeling we wanted was that same family feeling at the Tam that ran from the bartenders to the owners to the patrons," says Mary Stamper.

"We knew you can't do it without good people."

Now their current staff oversees so much more than the tiny Tam could have ever allowed. Live Celtic and rock music. Lots of televisions. There are even some inimitable elements such as an open-aired Tiki Bar and a secluded "Paddy-O."

The latter is certainly a highlight. The Paddy-O is by no means a vista view of anything, even Lorain Road. But it has a hidden quality to it. It's a blink to drivers on Lorain so much so that the Stampers put in a lot of work to extend the area only a couple of yards closer to the road, just so passers-by can catch a glimpse. Plus, while other patios in the area seem to favor artichoke dip over atmosphere, the clink of silverware will never drown out the clank of beer cans at Stamper's.

This is, after all, a patio attached to an out-of-the-blue Tiki Bar. Just underneath three drop-down garage-type doors is where you'll find this tongue-in-cheek island getaway. With equal parts ESPN and Parrothead "merch," it's a little like tailgating at the beach (especially during college football season).

Now, after a few initially lean years, Stamper's enjoys the same bond with Fairview Park as the Tam did with Lakewood.

So what happened to all those familiar faces at the Tam?

"Well, I know it sounds funny," says a laughing Mary Stamper, "but as special as things were, I think Lakewood couldn't imagine driving all the way to Fairview." (Lakewood's only a 10-minute trip, but it's a town with as many taverns as telephone poles.)

"I think it really took all the Tam kids having children of their own to finally bring them out here," she says with a smile. "They know we're a good family place."

"Now they're here all the time and driving Westlake Cab crazy with their fares back to Lakewood."

Somewhere in bar heaven, the Tam is smiling.

Piai is a free-lance writer in Rocky River.

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Friday@plaind.com