Joe Kool’s celebrates 40 years in London, Ont.
Global News
First opening its doors in 1983, Mike Smith, longtime owner Joe Kool's said, 'it seems like yesterday, but some days it feels like 400 years ago.'
Joe Kool’s, an institution on London, Ont.’s bar and restaurant scene, celebrated a milestone Wednesday, marking 40 years of serving the Forest City.
“It seems like yesterday, but some days it feels like 400 years ago,” founder Mike Smith said of the anniversary.
Celebrations will take place throughout the week, Smith added, but said they would be informal.
“We’ve got a lot of people coming in today (Wednesday). It’s probably more of a local crowd. … I imagine there’s people that we’ll meet on Friday who are in town to see old friends. It’s just more of a get-together when people can see old faces they haven’t seen in a while.”
Smith, who opened Joe Kool’s in 1983, said his original inspiration came from a “Chicago influence.”
“What I always liked about Chicago was you walk into a restaurant or a bar, and it was a mixed crowd. There’d be older people mingling with younger people, rich people with poor people, blue-collar people with white-collar people. It really was a cross-section where different characters got together.”
As for the name “Joe Kool’s,” Smith said it came out of a conversation with a long-time friend.
“We were talking about what the name could be. I always had an alter ego called Lance Cordoba, kind of a Joe Cool type guy, a guy who thought he was really with it.”