“You got to find the Packer love,” Ott said, noting that Sunday’s epic game against Green Bay’s rival, the Minnesota Vikings, was perfect timing for the friends’ introduction to the Park.
Both Midwest transplants say the bar, with its Green Bay neon paraphernalia and down-home warmth — strangers at the start are buddies by the end of the first quarter, or pitcher, whichever comes first — reminds them of home.
So what is a Packers bar doing in the middle of the Media City, known mostly for movie studios, aviation and the world’s most famous mouse?
Tieche, wearing a green shirt with gold letters that read, “The Real California Cheese,” bought the sports bar 2 1/2 years ago from a die-hard Packer fan named Ryan McCormick, he said.
Tieche, born and raised in Los Angeles, followed the Los Angeles Rams before they ditched the City of Angels for St. Louis. He had considered plastering Rams logos about the walls, but he thought better of it, Tieche said Sunday above rumbles from his regulars.
One such regular is Kevin Palmer, who, along with McCormick and two other friends, created the name “The Park,” with every letter representing an initial from each friend’s name: Patrick, Andy, Ryan and Kevin.
Palmer, a Burbank resident born in Green Bay, said the space at 2007 W. Burbank Blvd. used to be a sawdust-on-the-floor kind of bar called the Pirates Cove, which opened at 6 a.m. and catered to studio drivers getting off work. His friend, McCormick, turned it into a sports bar, and with heavy Packer influence from Palmer, the Park was born.
“Just look for the flag,” Palmer said, indicating the Green Bay banner that flies above the bar’s sun-bleached sign and understated awning.
