While perusing Facebook for the latest in the Tuscaloosa bar scene, one might run across something a little bit curious under “relationship status” for two particular venues. Wilhagan’s Sports Grille and neighboring Little Willie’s Blues and Jazz Club are currently “in an open relationship” on Facebook, and it is not very hard to see why.
The two spots could not be more different, with Wilhagan’s offering the classic sports bar: Crimson Tide memorabilia on nearly every surface, flatscreen TVs lining the walls and a game room full of darts, billiards and arcade games. But take a peek through the connecting door to Little Willie’s and you will be immersed in the dark, bluesy ambiance reminiscent of a classic New Orleans or Chicago-style jazz club.
“We do try to help each other out,” said Exa Johnston, head bartender at Little Willie’s. “We’re all the same team. It’s like one big family, and we try to make everyone else feel like that too.”
It all started about 10 years ago, when UA alumnus Bill Lloyd opened his second Wilhagan’s Sports Grille — he opened the original in Nashville in 1989.
“I’d been living in Nashville and coming down for football games for twenty-odd years,” Lloyd said. “Ten years ago, Tuscaloosa didn’t have any real-deal sports bars.”
Lloyd said his goal was to open a sports bar and grill that wasn’t just a UA athletics museum with a few TVs scattered about the place. He wanted to give Tuscaloosa a sports bar with things to do, such as games and different events, even when there wasn’t a big football game happening. Thus Wilhagan’s moved into the spot in Temerson Square where it still thrives today.
Five years later, Little Willie’s was born from the storage area connected to Wilhagan’s right hip.
“I’m just a real jazz and blues fan,” Lloyd said, “and I decided to open Little Willie’s.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Wilhagan’s bartender Stuart Lee said the two are more a dysfunctional family than anything, but it works for them.
“This is a sports bar with hot wings,” Lee said. “They’re our sophisticated side.”
You are more likely to find poetry readings and open mic nights at Little Willie’s, which features live music almost every night of the week. Meanwhile, Wilhagan’s has its own agenda concerning events, including an upcoming “Jack Daniel’s birthday party” featuring drink specials and T-shirt giveaways.
The two share a menu which includes many brand-new items, with a kitchen that is open six days a week until 1 a.m. so patrons can enjoy quality food on late nights out.
Drinks are a bit of a different story, with Wilhagan’s boasting a selection of some 81 beers and quality drafts and Little Willie’s providing high gravity alternatives and specialty drinks.
“If you want a good martini and you don’t know what you like, we can help with that,” said Johnston of Little Willie’s. She said Thursdays tend to be busy nights for the jazz club, when they offer half-priced wine as well as $5 high gravity beer-of-the-week.
Lee said Wilhagan’s best attribute would probably be its beer selection.
“The beer selection, the pool tables and the environment,” he said. “We’re not looking for people coming in here and having as many Bud Lights as you can. We want to be that chill place you can sit and have a conversation.”
It helps that Wilhagan’s is technically a restaurant and does not allow smoking before 10 p.m.
So no matter what you’re looking for in your bar experience, this marriage of sports and jazz can help you out.
Speaking of marriage, what does the future hold for Little Willie’s and Wilhagan’s?
“As long as the doors are open, we’ll be in an open relationship,” Johnston said. “But I don’t know if we’re ready for anything else!”
