I arrived at the Octopus in Cedar Falls for the first time on a Friday around 6 p.m., hoping to catch the weekly 5 o’clock Free Chicken Wings special, a tradition/homage to the old crew that ran Stebs.
Clocking the where-are-the-wings look on my face, the bartender chuckled good-naturedly and said, “Yeah, we had a rush — and those don’t last long!”
Undeterred, I grabbed a menu and the last available barstool and ordered a drink. The natural light from the street-facing window and stacked glass blocks behind the bar created a perfectly pleasant dim. The inside felt and looked like the hull of a giant ship, and at one end of the bar a regular was spinning vinyl, and damn if the speakers weren’t perfectly dialed in and the song selections on point. As the intro to Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” snaked through the room, a half-crocked patron walked in off the patio and happily shouted, “I LOVE THIS MUSIC,” which was met with three-quarters of the bar tipping their drinks in general agreement, and an agreeable tail wag from the bar dog laying contently on the floor.
Prior to my arrival, I had spoken with the owner of the Octopus, Dave Diebler (lead singer/guitarist for House of Large Sizes, for all you ’80s/’90s alt nerds out there) to learn about the history of the place. Like many great music venues, it was never intended to be one, but somehow over the last 13 years a PA system was installed, a stage built in the back of the room, and an array of artists from all genres imaginable booked to play the room.
The most recent changes, however, have been the installation of new bathrooms and a kitchen.
While offering food is a logical progression, Dave made it clear in our conversation that the team was still in the early stages of developing its food offerings.
“This is a scary fucking time for food, man,” Dave said. “I want to be as forthright about this as possible, because I’m not much into wasting anyone’s time. Food is the next step of enhancement for the Octopus, but ultimately I see this place as a public house where people go to get nourished — in all senses of that word. I truly believe there is nothing more important in this world right now than conversation, and the Octopus is a place where you can go to get that, whether that be with the person sitting next to you at the bar, or the exchange you get listening to live music.”
Keeping in mind the importance of eating a well-balanced meal, I ordered the following from the appetizer-centric menu: Garlic Cheese Bread (carbohydrate), Popcorn Chicken (protein), and Corn Nuggets (vegetables, duh). The food arrived in fast fashion and was served in charming red plastic diner baskets lined with brightly ornamented red/white parchment paper. Straight out of Happy Days.
Each appetizer came with a generous helping of dipping sauce tailored to support its starring player. The garlic cheese bread had garlic and cheese and both were melted onto bread, and yes, it was exactly as delicious as it sounds. The popcorn chicken was straightforward, to the point, nothing flashy, but also the easiest and quickest basket to crush. The true stand-out performer in this appetizer bonanza, though, were the corn nuggets, which (I came to learn) are cheese curds, with one essential difference: they also have corn in them. And yes; they are exactly as delicious as they sound, especially when dipped in honey, which gives the app a cornbread flavor/sensation that feels like comfort food.
Having satisfied my initial gluttonous cravings, I offered the remainder of my bounty to the room. As a reward for my appetizer benevolence, I got to chat with some of the regulars, and each interaction solidified my initial sense that the Octopus was really less a bar and more of a family — or as one regular put it, “The Octopus is really less a bar and more of a family.” I learned that once a year, the whole crew of the Octopus shuts down the venue and all go see a Cubs game.
Another patron simply said, “I just like it! And as a woman, I feel completely safe, which I can’t say for all places.”
Oh, and get this — you remember that bar dog I mentioned earlier? Well, that bar dog has a name, and it’s Hank, and it turns out that Hank’s owner (who had been a regular at the bar and always brought Hank in with him) sadly passed away recently. Hank was adopted by another regular at the bar who has continued bringing him in so he can “at least have a little normalcy.”
Next-level good human moves like that are what reinforce my belief that the amount of good that occurs in venues like the Octopus is immeasurable, and that every community needs this type of gathering place. It’s hard to say what the X factor is in creating places like this, but two common threads I’ve noticed are that A) the place is connected with live music, and B) the space is radically inclusive in a completely unforced way. I truly believe because places like the Octopus exist and are so aggressively and easily themselves, they make it possible for the patrons within to be the same.
Thanks to people like Dave, the staff at the Octopus, the musicians who perform and the patrons who show up and listen, people in Cedar Falls are receiving and providing some sorely needed Nourishment. And by god, when you find a place that generates and provides this type of Nourishment and THEN adds a side of corn-embedded cheeseballs dunked in honey, a superbly curated vinyl playlist (masterfully spun by DJ Pals) in a perfectly lit room filled with friendly folks (and the goodest pupper) and cold drinks, well hot damn, that’s about as good as it’s ever going to get.
Just make sure you arrive early enough on Friday to grab a free wing. Keep a weather eye out for the Octopus’s expanded food menu, which will continue being developed in the months to come. Their regular hours are 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s September 2024 issue.
