New bar and aspiring music venue Coda finds footing in former Jilly’s

As a Westside dweller and Crossroads worker, I’ve been curious as to the progress of Coda, which announced itself with a “coming soon” sign in the window of the vacated Jilly’s sometime last year.

Yesterday while driving by, I noticed the “coming soon” had been updated to “now open,” so I gathered up the Buckle Bunny for a drop-by. Here’s one view of the inside. Jilly’s had its own dingy appeal, but this place is vastly cleaner and more open.

Coda’s owners, married couple Dan and Annie Tutko, were happy to pause from their ongoing labors to give us a rundown of the joint’s progress. The place opened a week ago, serving lunch only . The Tutkos are still working on getting their liquor license and plan to have it nailed down by mid April. They decided to get all-new business and liquor licenses rather than take over the ones from Jilly’s. They are struggling, however, to secure an entertainment license.

The city’s Regulated Industries makes it virtually impossible to open a music venue within 300 feet of a church. What church is within 300 feet of 19th and Broadway, you ask? Why, a local branch of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist organization. It’s in the low-slung, whitewashed building across 19th to the south of the bar. I’d parked in its lot many a time in Jilly’s’ heyday and never realized it was a Buddhist church. (Hidey-ho there, Gautama!)

Although Dan says the good people at SGI have signed consent forms saying that it’s fine with them if Coda books bands within 300 of their building, the city has so far not budged. “I just got to the point where I needed money coming in,” says Dan. And that’s why he and Annie, along with their partner, local musician Clint Hoffmeier, decided to start opening for lunch. Once the liquor license is secured in April, they’ll begin opening for dinner and serving drinks until 1:30 a.m. Without that entertainment license, they can’t book bands or DJs, but they can book solo acts. “We were thinking everything from rock, to blues, to jazz and classical,” Dan says, noting that the performing arts center may bring in an older crowd when it opens up the street.

As to the question of how Jilly’s was able to book bands and DJs, Dan thinks that its entertainment license must have been “grandfathered in” over the course of decades of license renewals at the location. Because the Tutkos are applying for new licenses (Jilly’s licenses would have come with too many debts attached, they say), they are encountering these regulated obstacles. Let’s hope Coda gets a dose of good karma quick.

As for the restaurant side, the Tutkos have worked in the local industry a long time. Eateries on their combined resume include EBT, the American Restaurant, Starker’s Reserve and the Majestic Steakhouse. The lunch menu now offers Beer-Battered Fish and Chips ($9.99), Lemonada Chicken Breast ($9.99), 10 oz. Pepper Steak ($15.99) and a variety of sandwiches and burgers under $8 (pulled pork, cheese steak, etc.).

“We should come here for lunch,” said the Buckle Bunny as she and I left. “That Mango Salmon Salad [$7.99] is calling my name.”