TAVERN OF THE MONTH

Featured Tavern

   Tavern Tours headed north to Iron River Wisconsin to visit with Eric Price, the owner of The Other Place. Eric's main focus is giving the customer a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

   Eric bought the tavern in March of 2008. Since then he has expanded the food, beer, and the liquor selection in order to better serve the customers. From the newly added drink menu, a person can choose from 98 different beers, 16 types of tap beer, 20 plus varieties of vodka, and approximately 18 varieties of rum. In addition to the drink menu, people can also get breakfast at the Other Place. The Other Place has a wide variety of clientele. In addition to the local town people, there is also the tourists that come to Iron River to fish, snowmobile, ATV, and camp. When we asked why he decided to have such a wide variety, he stated "People like it!" 

   Although Eric grew up in Delvin in the southern part of Wisconsin, he frequented Iron River often to visit his grandparents. Eric graduated from the University of Eau Claire with a degree in Biology. He also went to flight school in Kenosha and flew commercially for 8 years. Also during this time he joined the National Guard. After serving in the National Guard for 27 years (14 of the 27 years were active duty), Eric knew he wanted to live in Iron River. Throughout the years, he had vacationed in the area on hunting land he had purchased.

   In 2002 Eric had started negotiating with the owners of the Other Place about buying the bar. The conversations occurred on and off for for five years. In 2007 they had finally set a time to discuss the sale. Unfortunately, the owners both passed away prior to the scheduled meeting. It took until March of 2008 for Eric to finally acquire the business

   Eric had no previous experience at owning a tavern, but had confident ideas on how the customers should be treated. He will be the first to tell you that he is continuously learning. When asked what his biggest surprise was after he started he stated "how fast the people accepted me". He also new that the majority of the work would have to be done by himself. He does all the maintenance, book work, ordering, cooks, and bartends. Eric's friend Nikki also helps take part of the work load, and there are 3 other employees that tend bar and cook. Eric's hobbies are deer hunting and fishing. Since there is not a lot of free time, he has not been able to do much of that. He does schedule at least two nights a week for fun. He is in the Iron River Fishing League, and is also on a Tuesday night couples golf league.

   Eric has made many positive changes in the last two years, and has many more to come. His next project will be to add a patio. His plans are to have it approximately 1800 square feet with a grill, and it will also be landscaped and include water ponds. In addition to the patio, in the future new tables and chairs will be added. Eric's goal is to make people comfortable and enjoy! The Other Place sponsors men's pool league and a dart team. Eric also supports the Youth Baseball and local library by holding fundraisers. He also just recently hosted the Snowmobile Club fundraiser that had 150 people attend. He is also looking forward to holding a 4th of July celebration this summer. 

  No one should pass up the opportunity to stop in at The Other Place! It doesn't matter if you are on an ATV run, just off the lake from fishing, or on snowmobile. There is something for everyone! Eric will make sure of it!