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| Gary Shevik and kitchen manager Joe Valencia, with Mulligan's popular baby back ribs. |
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| Shevik shows off his swing on Mulligan's fantastic golf simulator. |
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B.K. Mulligan's in Lincoln City
The golf, simulated. The great time, real.
By NIKI PRICE
Oregon Coast Today
In the world of golf, a Mulligan is a free shot, an understanding amongst friends — a do over. So, when Gary Shevik and Rebecca Hall were forced to close their sports bar by the same name — B.K. Mulligan’s, which until 2004 was the restaurant at the former Lakeside Golf Course — that’s what their fans called out. Do it again!
So Shevik and Hall decided to build a bigger, better B.K. Mulligan’s in Lincoln City, near the D River Wayside, at 266 SE Hwy. 101. Inside this two-story bar, sports fans can find 13 individual sports screens, pool tables, table shuffleboard, NTN Trivia and a state-of-the-art golf simulator, a full bar and a menu of burgers, sandwiches, appetizers and barbecue. They opened the doors earlier this month, but will celebrate a grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Shevik and Hall are pleased to welcome back customers from the old location, which began in 2002 with a limited menu.
“There, we started out slow with simple golf course food, hot dogs and hamburgers, then slowly expanded. We named our burgers after the nicknames of local golfers, special people,” Shevik said.
The Bundy Burger, for example, features ham, bacon, egg, American cheese and Thousand Island dressing, while the Paul E comes with Swiss, teriyaki sauce, ham and pineapple, and the Blue Eyes Burger has bacon and blue cheese crumbles.
Neither Shevik nor Hall had any restaurant experience, but with the help of manager Desiree Gilmer, they built the Lakeside restaurant into a busy local hangout. When the golf course and clubhouse was purchased by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in 2004, however, they were unable to keep their lease, Shevik said.
“We weren’t really ready to stop, because we were doing well. It was very successful in the three years we were there. So I pursued trying to find some other property in town, hoping we could build another location,” he said. “We teamed up with two other businesses, Gallucci’s and Kimberling Construction, to make a new company, Sea-View Development LLC.”
Together, they purchased the Catch the Wind Kites retail store and surrounding property, razed the structure and built the new B.K. Mulligan’s. It’s filled with posters, banners, uniforms, shadow box scenes and other pieces of sports décor from the old location, with room for lots more.
“Some of them we have collected, and others are from customers who frequented our old place and want to contribute. They’ve gone on trips and brought back things to throw on the wall, which we encourage,” Shevik said.
Until now, Shevik has worked full time as a civil engineering consultant in locations across the country. B.K. Mulligan’s, he said, represents the best of the sports bars he’s seen in his travels.
Around town, the biggest buzz has been the indoor virtual golf simulator, which allows golfers to “play” 60 different courses from around the world. Using real balls and clubs, players send their shots directly into a sensor-laden screen, which sends data to a computer which calculates distance and trajectory, and changes the screen image to match. Groups can reserve tee times, just like at a real course, and take advantage of the built in swing analyzer, for $20 an hour. They can practice on the Putting Challenge machine, or join the indoor winter golf league, now under construction.
“It’s really fun. You can be sitting around, having a beer and playing golf at Pebble Beach or St. Andrews,” Shevik said. “It can be pouring rain outside and you can still be playing. If you have four people, that’s pretty cheap entertainment.”
Watching sports on television is, naturally, a central focus of any good sports bar. B.K. Mulligan’s has a dozen monitors and major sports subscriptions, plus a 60-square-foot, high resolution screen that can show up to four games simultaneously. They plan to reinstate the two-person shuffleboard league, which was popular at the old location, and to sponsor teams in the regional traveling billiards league. Near the bar, patrons can play Oregon lottery poker or join real-time National Trivia Network competitions.
“We’ve tried to accommodate a lot of interests,” Shevik said, “so when people come here they can do lots of things in addition to eating.”
But all those sports will require some sustenance. The new B.K. Mulligan’s menu, lovingly wrapped in a pigskin cover, offers burgers with homemade chips, starting at $6.50, as well as salads, soups and specialty sandwiches. Traditional pre-game treats, from nachos and mozzarella cheese sticks to potato skins and chicken strips, are made hot and fresh under the watchful eye of kitchen manager Joe Valencia.
“The biggest expansion is the smoked ribs and brisket. We worked on it all summer,” Shevik said. “We’re both from Chicago, and we’re used to good barbecue there. We missed it, so we thought it would be something good to put on our menu. It’s slow cooked in a wood smoker for eight to 10 hours.”
Available only on Friday and Saturday, the barbecue menu includes a half-rack of hickory-smoked baby back ribs with corn bread and a choice of two sides, for $9.95. They’ll also be whipping up chopped beef brisket, served on bun with fresh chips, for $6.95, and a rib and brisket combo for $13.95.
Minors are allowed in the west side of the bar, which makes B.K. Mulligan’s a friendly place for families until 8 p.m. Customers can enjoy 12 taps of draft beer, bottled beer and wine, and a full-service bar, where smoking is allowed.
“I put in a really good ventilation system, and with this large open space, it’s as close to a smoke-free environment as we can get,” Shevik said.
For this weekend’s grand opening, they’ve planned food and drink specials, giveaways and live entertainment with the Salmon River Band. Shevik and Hall invite sports lovers and customers, both old and new, to give this Mulligan a shot.
B.K. Mulligan’s, 266 SW Hwy. 101, is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For details, call the restaurant at 541-996-2468.
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