Kimo's Sports Bar
2696 N Columbia Center Boulevard
Richland, WA 99352
Nominated by: Michael De Pauw
Michael's submission : Kimo's Sports Bar home of Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing Company in Richland, WA has got to be the BEST place to catch ANY game!
$1.75 pints and $7.oo pitchers of some of the northwest's best microbrews aside this place has got SO much to offer. They do this INSANE food challange called the 4th and long. You get 30min to eat a dozen eggs, a pound of hashbrowns, and a loaf of bread. If you win the meals on the house and your name goes on a "hall of fame" plaque. They should do a "hall of shame" plaque, because to this day no one has completed it! Those who have gotten close end up spending the next 30min in the bathroom!
The venue is HUGE so theres no saying how many people will show up on any given sunday. Plus it sits right on Columbia River with one of the best river and sunset views in town.
Did I mention this is Kimo's sports bar? As in Kimo Von Olhofen! So guests are treated to drop in visits by this NFL superstar!
During superbowl playoffs they do giveaways for helmets, and jerseys from Kimo's former teams. They also broadcast college games, and will stream games live with enough notice. They are also the hub for all our local small time sports. Tri-Citie Americans (hockey) fans, and Fever (arena football) fans alike gather for pregame dinners, awaygame showings and parties, preseason kick off parties, and meet and greats with the players. They even stream a live "Coaches show" radio talk segment from the owners box during Fever season.
The staff is AMAZING, of course, and totaly make the expierience come full circle! With their eclectic group of characters anything can happen. Elijah is always full of spunk and random beatbox noises, Ben is the king of sarcasm and wit who unfortunatly does always know what he's talking about, Jackie can be caught doing backflips and random tumbles as she is the only official WSU Cheerleader Alumni on staff, Tina keeps a smile on her face while dealing with these silly kids and guests,Dreaded head Alora wears her t-shirt "recreations" that all the ladies want to buy, Kisha will charm you with her tri-colored eyes, Even attempts to manage everyone as they have a great time doing thir job, and thats only a few of our favorite staffers!
NFL aside as mentioned earlier they show all kinds of sports. Hosting marathons, and sponoring disc golf tournements. Some of my favorite are the live MMA cage fights in the parking lot. Theirs one this saturday with a KISS tribute band!
When there arn't sports going on the staff comes up with their own. During the summer they love to use a giant sling shot to shoot waterballons at the boats sitting in the bay! Gotten close but have'nt hit the target yet! Don't worry the ballons are biodegradable, thanks to Alora's insistance. They even throw in a free beer if you bring the ballon back up!
Since more then half the staff are avid disc golfers coasters often turn into discs and different poles or tables in the resturant turn into holes. So long as the boss guys arn't looking!
I've included some random photos from moments at Kimo's 3 from last years halloween party, IPA mug (for mug members only!), and the sling slot!
All in all Kimo's is great sports bar year round!
About the Bar (from official web site) : Founded by Steve & Renea Metzger in 1997, opening on July 4th of that year. Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing Co. quickly grew to be a local favorite hangout because of the great food, beer, view and personality given to the business by Steve & Renea.
RMBC also became the place to go for great live music. Indoor and outdoor concerts ranging from country, rock, blues, and once even had a Pink Floyd tribute band. This built Rattlesnake's reputation for supporting local bands. Some bands who played back at the beginning are still performing at Kimo's today.
Steve eventually took a job at Fluor and the Metzgers sold the business to Kimo in 2002. Renea remained to help run the restaurant for the new owner until surgery on an injured ankle forced her to quit working at the restaurant.
In 2005, Kimo and the other owners decided to update the aging building. The doors were closed in February and the inside was gutted. Four months later the new and improved "Kimo's" was opened and was an immediate hit.
Everything about the restaurant was changed except for the beer and the brewery. The brewery remains intact and continues to make many of the recipies created by Steve Metzger. The same brewer that has worked with Steve since the beginning continues working there today.
The first year was an interesting one for Kimo's. The owner Kimo von Oelhoffen won a superbowl ring playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the home town Seahawks. Hopefully all is forgiven.