Block’s (and sister restaurant Coney McKane’s) was featured in an article in today’s Herald & Review discussing eating out during the recession and how places here in Macon County are faring. Owner Lea Stukins is quoted throughout, giving her take on how things are going. Its an interesting piece from H&R Staff Writer Kenneth Lowe, with a couple of photos (see above) from Kelly J. Huff.

Check the article out HERE

Wow. I can’t believe it’s time for Decatur Celebration again already. Didn’t we just do this a month or so ago? Seems like it. MAN the time flies when you’re having fun!

And we always do have fun over Celebration weekend. The hours are long (myself and the General Manager will be pulling 16 hour days Friday and Saturday), and the crowds are large (we are typically wall to wall both nights of Celebration weekend), but through it all we manage to have fun.

Speaking of fun, we’ve got  double DJ action again with both Sean Michael and DJ JC  spinning Friday and Saturday nights. They’re starting at 9PM, so when the heat and humidity finally hit you, we’ll have our AC and atmosphere ready to go!

Hours-wise, we’re not changing anything for Celebration weekend, other than we will be opening Saturday morning at 11am. So whenever you need a cool break from the heat outside, we’ll be here for you. Its a beautiful setup, seeing as those of us stuck inside can live vicariously through you coming to visit us!

And just so you know, Bud Lt and Miller Lt draft and bottled beers are $2.50 all weekend long. Sweet.

See you Celebration Weekend,
–jay

Who new? We are!

Just wanted to lay out all the details on our BIG CHANGES here at Block’s!

You’ve probably noticed the first big change yourself. Over the course of the last several weeks, we have been hard at work REMODELING OUR FRONT DINING ROOM AREA. The changes are twofold: it makes the entire dining area much more intimate, and gives us the party room we’ve wanted for so very long. The room is perfect for business meetings, rehearsal dinners, private parties, etc; complete with our ability to set up your very own mini bar in there! We are reserving the room now, so if you haven’t seen the finished room yet, come on in and check it out!

The next bit of news is that we are finally  OPENING FOR LUNCH! Tuesdays through Fridays we will be opening at 11am for lunch, and we couldn’t be more excited! Again, this is something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and with the new layout it was the perfect time to finally do it. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 16th, and plan on joining us for our first non-Friday lunch!

We’re excited about our DINNER HOURS, too, since we will be expanding our menu! Note that I said expanding; most, if not all, of your current favorites will still be here.

But we’re not done yet, because we are also bringing back our much-missed SUNDAY BREAKFAST!

This time around we will offer up our incredible breakfast buffet as well as individual breakfast plate options. We’ll also kick in our lunch menu starting at 11am, just in case we have some burger-lovers coming in!

So the new layout looks like this, as of June 16th:

Tue – Fri: 11am
Saturday: 4pm
Sunday: 9am
closed on Mondays
Dinner menu kicks in Tue – Sat at 4pm

We look forward to hearing what you have to say about these tweaks to Block’s! Like I said, we’ve wanted to make these changes for quite some time now, so now that we finally are we’re pretty excited!

Later,
–jay

We are winding down on our St. Patty’s Day party here at Block’s and I thought I’d jump into the Cloffice real quick and log onto the site. 

Was there a ton of green on display? Of course. Were people having a good time ? Definitely. Were any leprechauns harmed in the proceedings? Only one, and it was minor at best.

We’ve honestly had a great crowd in here pretty much all day from the moment we opened (4PM). As always, I saw a lot of you Blockheads out in the crowd (and got to talk to some of you), so Thank You once again for coming out and having some fun with us.

Okay, we’re not done out there yet, so I better get back to it!

Later,

–jay

So our big Mardi Gras celebration was Saturday night… its now Wednesday night and I’m just now getting around to sitting down and typing about it!

Seriously, Block’s was a’rocking Saturday night! The place was packed; our DJ’s Sean Michael and JC were definitely on their game; the dance floor was never empty; our exclusive beads were a complete hit; and the food? Our jambalaya and jalapeno-cheddar cornbread were AWESOME! Folks were raving, the Block’s team couldn’t wait to nab a moment to indulger themselves… so so good.

We here at Block’s also got a really great surprise when one of our original (and dearly missed) team members showed up! Keesha was back in Decatur from Florida to visit, and it was absolutely awesome seeing her again. Good times!

Okay, I gotta keep this post short as we’re still grooving along on Open Mic right now. That, and I kinda have some other stuff to do. I just wanted to do a quick update and thank everybody who came out to Mardi Gras for helping to make it easily one of the biggest parties of the year so far!

Later,

–jay

Well, our Valentine’s Day celebration is winding down (as I start this post it’s about 1:50AM), and already we’re looking forward towards our next big party: Mardi Gras, baby!

For all of us down here in Downtown Decatur, the party is Saturday, February 28th. Now, we’ve had fun every year we’ve been down here for “The Gras,” but this year we’re really looking forward to it. Following their debut performance together on New Year’s Eve, our resident DJ extraordinaire, Sean Michael, will once again be teaming up for dual-DJ action with John Carter, aka DJ JC.   

If you were here on New Year’s, you experienced it for yourself and can back me up on how great it was. If you weren’t here, it was just plain more than what we typically offer: more music, more sound, more lights, more excitement!

Here’s how it breaks down: John brings in his equipment to work in tandem with ours. We’re talking extra speakers, extra woofers, extra lights, the whole shebang. Sean and John set up on one long table; Sean with his turntables and mixer, and John with his. They each have their extensive catalogues of music, and throughout the night they take turns performing “mini-sets” where one of them will spin for a while, and then the other will  spin in (seamlessly) and take over. Throughout the night they’ll occasionally drop into each other’s sets, adding cool little additional bits and pieces to the mix.

The crowd on New Year’s loved it. We had several of our guests approach us direct to let us know how much they were enjoying the boys, and we overheard plenty more talking amongst themselves about the setup. We were all really happy with how things went, and immediately started talking about doing it again. Mardi Gras seemed to be a perfect fit, so here we are!

I know the guys are excited. They had a great time working together and really put on a killer show that night. And I’m excited to hear them work together again! I’m telling you, it really was pretty cool seeing and hearing two DJ’s working together back and forth. I know the bigger clubs do this sort of thing all the time (Sean heads out to “bigger city” clubs pretty frequently to research, as does John if I’m not mistaken), but it was my first experience seeing it live and not on E! or something like that.

So that’s the reason we’re all super excited for this year’s Mardi Gras. Sure, we’re still gonna have drink specials and dinner specials and plenty of beads and all the usual groovy stuff we offer up for the biggest party of the year… but with two DJ’s in the mix? The party is gonna be a whole lot bigger this year. 

Just the way we like it!

–jay

AFTERTHOUGHT: If I may reflect briefly on our Valentine’s Day…

I’ll admit, for most of the evening I was helping back in the kitchen. We had three very popular dinner specials we were serving up – a pork roast, chicken parmesan, and grilled shrimp over Spanish rice – on top of our regular menu fare, so we were pretty dang busy back there. But I did poke my head out from time to time and was really pleased to see so many Blockheads out in the crowd. Quite frankly, the place was packed for the majority of the night.

Ashley Riley (and friends) was a big draw (and they all sounded fantastic from what I heard), and the folks who weren’t too full from their meals were loving on the chocolate buffet. I know Dr. Suzette was a big draw, too, with plenty of our guests opting for a full (albeit quick) ten minute read rather than just the guaranteed one question they received automatically. The few people I talked to about their psychic encounter were all very pleased with their reading. I know my buddy Tim was smiling widely after his reading, and my Mom was super giddy. Several others I spoke with were all happy; that or just plain amazed at what Suzette threw their way. 

All in all, we had a great Valentine’s, and as of right now I’m ready to go home and sleep it off!

We’re a week out from V-Day, and many of you have mentioned our Y103 radio promo to me. And pretty much the first thing out of everyone’s mouth is something along the lines of “So what’s the deal with the chocolate buffet? Is it really awesome?”

Yep, for those of you who may not have heard the spot, I used the word ‘awesome’ to describe our chocolate buffet. And sure, you can argue that a one word description is pretty vague, but I think in this instance it’s pretty apt.

Still, I can understand if some of you may not be buying it. So I got to thinking, “How can I convey how awesome this chocolate buffet is if the word ‘awesome’ isn’t doing it for ya?” And then it dawned on me. A picture is worth a thousand words right? Well, here you go:

Now, obviously we don’t let everybody who comes in do this. This is Block’s General Manager, and it was taken right before we shut the fountain off for the night. But can you see written on her face how awesome she’s feeling right then? And believe me, she was hopped up on the chocolaty vibe our buffet was emitting way before this moment. This was just a bit of wish fulfillment. But that face? That’s pure delight right there. And that is what our chocolate buffet is all about. That is what I call awesome.

So what do we have to dip in this fountain? Plenty. Marshmallows, pineapple, pretzels, cookies, strawberries… the list goes on and on as to what we’ve got spread out for you. And on top of that, we have a selection of standalone items like cupcakes and brownies and the like. All homemade, of course. Cuz that’s how we roll. 

So yes, our chocolate buffet is awesome, just like I said on the radio. And yes, you and your date for the evening should both find plenty to enjoy. 

Just don’t plan on sticking your tongue into it.

–jay

Hey, Gang

It’s Friday, January 30th around  eleven thirty, and our monthly Friday Night Open Mic is still going strong! Right now I’m listening to an awesome jam session (from the good ol’ cloffice, of course) featuring five guys with a couple of guitars and several pieces of various percussion instruments (think bongos) . They are jamming! It sounds great, and once again we have an amazing crowd here listening to them. We couldn’t be more pleased with both the level of talent our performers bring and the level of support our audience brings. We started this Friday Night Open Mic because we felt these performers deserved a wider audience, and that audience has definitely been here for them!

Our Wednesday night Open Mics have been growing in audience as well, and we hope it keeps growing! I can’t stress enough how truly entertaining our regular performers are, and it brings me a whole lotta joy knowing that we’re playing a small part in growing their exposure. Not only that, but I’ve watched as several of our performers have gotten to know each other and started playing together, and now we’re seeing all kinds of new collaborations and hearing all kinds of great new sounds. 

Listen, we’ve been hosting these open mics for three years now, and I can honestly say that I still look forward to being treated to some damn fine music week after week. These may not be bands that you know from years of playing here in the area, but they are just as entertaining. If not more so! If you’re only used to hearing local faves plugged in and amped up, there’s something exciting about sitting back and enjoying an evening consisting largely of acoustic music. And no less energetic! You don’t have to be plugged in to rock the house, believe me.

So if you’re one of the Blockheads who have come out to one of our Open Mics, “Thank You.” If you haven’t made it out yet, what are you waiting for? Every Wednesday at 8PM, and the last Friday of every month at 8PM. I can promise you you’ll be pleased with what you discover here. Or I suppose I should say with who you discover here. Because the next great area band may be forming right here under our noses, and you could say, “I heard them back when…!”

Later,

–jay

I just wanted to jump on real quick to thank everyone who came out New Year’s Eve to help pack the place and ring in 2009 with all of us here at Block’s!

Those here were treated to something rather unique that we were pretty excited about checking out ourselves: our resident DJ dynamo Sean Michael was joined by DJ J.C. all night long, and the two of them rocked the house piggybacking off each other the entire night! Their set was awesome, and the crowd definitely was impressed by the double DJ action. It didn’t hurt that DJ J.C. brought along his lighting rig and extra speakers and amps. All in all, it was unlike anything you’ve ever seen – not only here at Block’s, but area-wide!

It was also fun for us all because it was our three year anniversary. December 31, 2005 was when we first opened our doors to the public, so this, our fourth annual New Year’s Eve party, was celebratory for us in a different way in addition to the “new year” part. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing this for three years now, and it’s also hard to believe that we’ve only been doing this for three years  now!

So really, in addition to my opener up above thanking everyone who came in New Year’s Eve, let me thank ALL of you who have come in and been a part of these last three years here at Block’s. Whether you’re one of our weekly regulars, or you’ve been to one of our Big Ticket Concerts (like The Wreckers), or you’ve joined us for one of the many charity events we’ve been fortunate to facilitate here, or however you’ve  been a part of it: Thank You. 

Later,
–jay

I can’ t believe Christmas is next week. And 2009 is coming the week after! Where the Hell did 2008 go??

Its amazing how when you enjoy what you are doing how the time seems to fly. That’s one way to explain why my last post was in AUGUST. I can’t believe that either!

The last time I blogged, I wrote about Ashley Riley and her CD release party. As I throw down this entry right now, Ashley is back in the house, but it is a much different beast. The place is packed with both performers and audience as our second Friday Night Open Mic grooves along. This is the second in our monthly presentations, which from next month forward will take place the last Friday of every month (the next will be Jan. 30th).

So far, these weekend versions of our regularly scheduled Wednesday  night Open Mics have been even more exciting than I had ever initially hoped for. Aside from the fact that they have been ridiculously well attended, the diversity of the performances have been incredible. Not just a rehash of the Wednesday night feel, the Friday night version rightfully rocks out just a bit harder, while still serving up some quieter moments throughout the night.

Take tonight for example: Ashley performed right out of the gate (at 8PM) with a full band for the first time and it was awesome. That has been followed by two more full bands, one of which is rocking right now (the reggae beat can be heard quite clearly from inside the cloffice), as well as some of our favorite Wednesday night singer-songwriter regulars who feed off the Friday night crowd’s energy in ways that do nothing but make them glow even brighter.

And again – the crowd! The entire reason we decided to try this out was that we had talent coming in on Wednesdays that we felt deserved a wider audience. Well, they haven’t disappointed, because the crowds have been super-supportive of these acts! Lots of folks have come in specifically because they were aware of the event, but there are plenty out there who just happened to have wandered in on the right night and who’s attention is now glued to the stage.

Like I said, based off the positive response for these first two events, the game-plan moving forward is to  continue with the once-a-month idea and presenting our Friday night Open Mic on the last Friday of every month. So the first one of the new year will be January 30th, 8-11PM. If you haven’t made it out to one of these yet and enjoy a wide variety of exceptional performers doing what they do best, then I can’t encourage you enough to come check out Friday Night Open Mic at Block’s!