Hidden behind a row of tall shrubs, just before Washington Street joins Main Street in Moscow, there is a small gray building with no windows. The bar’s name, “The Corner Club,” extends from the gray building in a neon sign and stretches toward Washington Street to be seen just before it is passed.
Christopher Dempsey | Rawr
The Corner Club located at 202 N Main Street, has been a Vandal hotspot since the 1940s.
The Corner Club is at 202 N. Main St. in Moscow. There are two entrances. Both are metal doors that don’t display the name of the bar, only a sign stating that no one under the age of 21 is allowed inside. There is a third door leading to an enclosed outside area with heating lamps and a cloth awning.
Glass over the tables protected what must have been hundreds of photos spanning several generations. The photos seemed mostly of patrons at the bar, smiling, enjoying time with their friends.
The photos created a connectedness with the bar, a local feel and a warm invitation. The walls were covered in Vandal memorabilia. A man behind the bar said he was the owner.
“This is an informal Vandal hall of fame,” said Marc Trivelpiece, owner of The Corner Club.
Trivelpiece and his wife are graduates of the University of Idaho. Trivelpiece worked at The Corner Club when he was in college and enjoyed the atmosphere.
“I think when the owners were looking to sell they wanted somebody who knew what The Corner Club was about and wouldn’t change things,” Trivelpiece said.
The Corner Club is a full bar with domestic beers, micro-brews and spirits. Their most popular drinks are a “tub” of beer, which comes in a 32-ounce cup.
There are nine televisions in the bar, each one playing a different game. The Vandal football game was playing over the radio throughout the bar’s sound system. The Vandals were losing. No one seemed to care.
Trivelpiece said they always get a good crowd during home games.
“For a lot of the alumni, it’s just where they choose to come before the game,” Trivelpiece said.
The Corner Club has a shuttle bus that runs continuously between the bar and the Kibbie Dome during Dads’ Weekend and Homecoming. Usually the bus starts at noon and stops when the game is over. The shuttle is free, but Trivelpiece suggested tipping the driver.
Trivelpiece’s wife typically makes biscuits and gravy to serve at the bar on Sunday mornings after home football games, said Lauren Goetz, a bartender at The Corner Club. The Corner Club has soft plastic and hard plastic “tubs” to serve drinks. Goetz said she knows mostly which one each of the regulars prefers. She said the 32-ounce tub of beer is the most popular drink, but the two-dollar fireball shots and their Bloody Marys are also popular choices.
Bartender Mikey Ruane said The Corner Club means the world to him.
“We’re not flashy, but we always have loyal customers that come in here because they like to have fun,” Ruane said.
The bar seemed to have many regulars, but didn’t feel isolating. The bartenders and regulars were accepting of new patrons and friendly. Trivelpiece said he has no changes for the bar planned for the future.
“We take care of customers the best we can because, I mean, without them this is just a building,” Ruane said.
Christopher Dempsey can be reached at [email protected]