No DJ.  No strobe lights.  No nonsense.

Gillespie’s Map Room on West 9^th not only has some of the lowest priced drinks and eats downtown, but it also offers one of the best environments to hang out, chat, and meet new people.

Open everyday of the year from 11:30am to 2:30am, no exceptions, Map Room is the only “old world” pub and pizzeria in Cleveland; offering up delicious subs, pizzas, and appetizers, plus an impressive selection of bar items, this little place is building a big name for itself.

With over 100 domestic and micro-brews available to sip on, Map Room patrons are loyal customers.  Bourbon drinkers find themselves becoming regulars as they discover Map Room carries about ten high-end bourbons, not to mention over 50 types of vodka.

Of course, every bar has alcohol; but Map Room is special because it puts out some of the best food I have ever had at a bar.  

I started with the pizza, the bar’s staple, and discovered it was everything I wanted out of a satisfying bar meal.  While drinking, I do not want to get stuffed by food, so the well-made thin crust with dough from Memphis Bakery was just what I was looking for.  Also, the flavorful tomato sauce, which was made in house, had the freshness great pizza demands. 

Having sampled three of their pizzas (New Jersey style, Southwest Sizzler, and BBQ Chicken), I found that BBQ Chicken was my favorite.  With red onions and hand-cut roasted chicken smothered in BBQ sauce topping the pizza, my mouth waters just thinking about it.  Of course, I’m always a sucker for BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Their biggest seller, and my second favorite, is the New Jersey Style Pizza, a recent addition to the menu.  Topped with fire-roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and provolone cheese, and garlic sauce, this slice of heaven will satisfy your hunger and taste buds.  The fact that the tomatoes are burnt in house provides the fresh tomato taste that makes this pizza a piece of art.

The third pizza I tried was the Southwest Sizzler.  Watch out! This pizza is for those with strong tongues and stomachs only.  I was shocked by the intense spiciness, but the flavor was delicious.  The sausage and onions tasted great, but the jalapenos and crushed red peppers is where I got in trouble.  For those with strong palettes, this is definitely a Grade A dish.

I also tried two subs – the Chicken Philly and the Cajun Chicken.  Both were very well made and only had the freshest of ingredients.  With 50 pounds of chicken hand sliced and diced in house every week, customers are guaranteed high quality, fresh chicken.

As I do like a certain degree of spice to my food, I naturally favored the Cajun Chicken sub.  It was just spicy enough for me.  The chicken was blackened in a 550˚ oven so the spices were truly baked into the meat creating a crispy outside and a delicious sub.  Topped with green peppers, onions, mozzarella cheese, and a homemade Cajun sauce, this sub is to die for.

The Chicken Philly sub was a close first runner-up.  This classic sub also features the hand-cut roasted chicken, green peppers, onions, and mozzarella cheese, plus provolone cheese as well.  If the timeless taste of a Chicken Philly is what you are looking for, then Map Room will deliver a high quality, satisfying dish. 

Subs are served with a side of fries, lucky you.  I am a very picky fry eater, and Map Room passed my fry test, hands down.  Salted to perfection, these fries had potato skins left on them, and boy were they tasty. 

For such a small kitchen, this place churns out some of the greatest bar food I have ever had. 

While enjoying their menu and bar selection, customers are also able to enjoy Map Room’s décor and atmosphere.  The long wooden bar, brick walls, wooden bar stools, chairs, and tables, set the old world tone for the whole place.  But once you sit down and look around, you will discover a bar filled with aeronautical themed adornments.

Most noticeable is the 1950s Smith mini-plane hanging from the ceiling.  In December 2005, this antique had its wings detached just so it could roll through the front doors of Map Room.  It was reassembled, and then hung in its current location.  This little bit of history is certainly a big conversation piece.

Old world maps decorate the walls, naturally.  There are also bookshelves filled with physics books, encyclopedias, and atlases right behind the bar when you first walk in. 

As you proceed toward the back of the establishment, you will come across more and more historical artifacts mixed in with modern devices.  The whole place seems to be one big, very cool anachronism.

The 1969 BMW motorcycle sits alongside a brand new 42-inch HD 2009 Live Golden Tee Golf video game.  (The bar is very proud of this recent addition).

Also in the back, there sits an old-fashioned Kroeger piano.  It’s so old, the keys don’t even work.  Above the piano sits an antique cash register and saxophone, as well as the General Manager’s grandfather’s WWII violin.

Regi Houle, GM of Map Room, said it was the only thing his dad got from his grandfather. “I’m pretty proud of that,” he said.  “Every time I walk back there, I get reminded of my family.”

And just to the left of the piano, an ATM brings us back to 2009, then a very old phone booth featuring a rotary phone takes us right back to WWII.

The cozy nook at the back of the bar features an L-shaped leather couch and a fireplace with a big screen TV hanging over it.  This area is quite inviting during the wintertime. 

On the wall to the right of this seating area, there are three portholes that really add to the whole aeronautical theme of the place. Eventually, the bar plans on having a mural painted of the Battle of Lake Erie around the portholes.  There will also be a plaque installed telling the story of the battle, making the bar a sort of historic landmark for the city of Cleveland and its Lake.

The jukebox is a very popular entertainment item at this bar highlighting classic rock, rock, and new age genres. 

The lower level is where you will find a private area you can reserve for parties.  One historical artifact down there is an old church pew just across from the establishment’s second bar. 

Gillespie’s Map Room is something everyone should experience.  It is the only bar in Cleveland which almost doubles as a museum, giving it an intellectual edge over the competition.  The crowd is typically upscale, with both white and blue-collar workers.  You could find artists sitting next to politicians any night of the week. 

GM, Regi Houle, said, “You’ll be comfortable here no matter who you are.”

So stop in and say hi to Regi, grab a fresh and delicious pizza or sub, have a drink, perhaps some bourbon, and take a look around – you never know what interesting antique you may stumble across at Gillespie’s Map Room.