Inside, Hey Hey Bar & Grill is almost universally covered by exposed brick walls, allowing the age of the structure to shine through. A long bar runs the length of a main room that also includes a line of padded booths complete with pillows. The beer selection behind the bar has expanded over the years, now spilling over into an auxiliary kegerator that holds a microbrew or two. A large chalkboard depicts that day’s offerings, the taps rotated frequently among popular and niche draft beer varieties.
Fascinating is Hey Hey’s relationship with food, the kitchen in back a long time staple of the Hey Hey experience cranking out daily specials and a handful of classics scrawled on handwritten menus produced weekly and sometimes daily. Owner Sue Gall, who purchased Hey Hey Bar & Grill with husband Tim in 1982, chose to take a step back from operating the kitchen, turning it over to what has become a rotating set of pop-up operators. Today, Two Fatt Indians operates out of the space, offering a traditional set of Indian specialties. A pair of wooden benches bookend the side door, one of them inscribed with “Tim & Susan” in honor of the Galls and their ownership of the Hey Hey.
But the real food story here is the bar’s signature sauerkraut ball recipe, one that has been published over the years and has drawn such a following that Hey Hey Bar & Grill operates a mobile food pop-up that travels to Ohio’s many local festivals during the summer. When the kitchen in back was operated as a pizza restaurant, sauerkraut balls remained on the menu. And today, amid the many Indian dishes cooked up by Two Fatt Indians, sauerkrauts remain available as the timeless Merion Village delicacies that they are.