On the eastern edge of downtown Mobile, in a building that once made ice for the city, The Ice Box has grown from a pandemic-era gamble into a neighborhood bar with a loyal following. Founded by Taylor Atchison and Stoney Boatman inside the old Crystal Ice House manufacturing facility, the bar opened in February 2020, survived one of the worst possible launch windows for a hospitality business, and marked its third birthday in early 2023 by expanding into the building’s former freezer.
It is a story of two native Mobilians, one with a knack for giving old buildings new life and one with decades behind the bar, who turned a vacant industrial property into one of the Church Street East neighborhood’s gathering places.
Opening Days Before Mardi Gras, Weeks Before COVID
The Ice Box held its grand opening in February 2020, five days before Mardi Gras season got underway in Mobile, the city that claims the oldest organized Carnival celebration in the United States. Business started strong. Then, a month later, the coronavirus pandemic arrived.
The bar threw an early St. Patrick’s Day party on March 16, 2020. The next day, St. Patrick’s Day itself, the city shut down bars and gathering places because of COVID-19. For a business built entirely around people getting together, the timing could hardly have been worse.
Frozen Drinks by the Half-Gallon
Atchison and Boatman adapted quickly. Drawing on Boatman’s long experience in the bar business, they began selling frozen drinks in half-gallon takeout containers for pickup only.
“It’s the only thing that kept us going,” Boatman said. “People started coming by the Ice Box and we sold around 500 per weekend for a while.”
The jugs became a phenomenon. “It was a blessing in disguise,” Atchison said. “Social media exploded with selfies of people holding up their just-purchased frozen drinks with a view of the Ice Box in the background. It was unreal.” According to the owners, customers drove in from as far away as New Orleans and Florida’s 30A to pick up jugs Thursday through Sunday.
After the rocky start, the partners added the Ice Box Side Yard, an outdoor area designed for socially distanced gatherings. It quickly became popular and proved ideal for private events.
Stoney Boatman: A Lifetime Behind the Bar
Boatman’s connection to the bar business goes back to his teens. At 15, he helped his father work on cars in a shop directly behind a small spot called Joe’s Halftime Bar. A self-described “gearhead,” he still remembers the Corvettes, the ’55 Chevys and his favorite, a ’65 SS Impala.
In high school he worked at the old Paddy O’Toole’s, where, because he was underage, the bartender had to keep an eye on him as he crossed through the bar on the way from the kitchen to the restroom. At 21 he started at Wentzell’s, becoming its manager at 24. He later joined David Dekel at The Original Oyster House, where he tended bar for seven years.
“Bartending has always been a passion,” Boatman said. “I tried mortgage banking and was successful, but sitting behind a desk was not my thing.” He spent four and a half years as a beer and wine representative, a job he says he loved, and tended bar on the side at The Garage, where he worked for about 20 years in all. There he booked music, cooked crawfish in season and built a following of regulars.
“I was running the show and loved helping to educate others about how to be a good bartender,” he said. “I have always enjoyed sitting down with regulars and they have become friends, not just customers.” Many of those regulars followed him to The Ice Box. “They are like family.”
Taylor Atchison and the Old Crystal Ice House
Atchison has built a reputation in Mobile for buying old buildings and repurposing them. He, his father and his father-in-law purchased the vacant Crystal Ice House manufacturing facility with the goal of turning it into something good for the neighborhood.
He had been thinking about a bar concept for some time but knew he needed an experienced operator. Atchison knew Boatman from The Garage, and the two had talked for years about what they might build together. When they toured the Crystal Ice House property, they knew it was the right place.
Atchison secured the necessary approvals and built out the front space while Boatman planned operations and assembled a team.
Repurposing industrial buildings has become a familiar story in downtowns across the country, as former warehouses, factories and plants find new lives as restaurants, breweries, offices and apartments. In Mobile, such projects have helped bring new activity to blocks at the edges of downtown that were once overlooked.
From Freezer Storage to Event Space
In 2022, The Ice Box expanded into the building’s former freezer space for private events. “There were bags of ice in the freezer when we bought the property,” Atchison said. “It took a little while to figure out how to incorporate the freezer space with the bar, but it’s worked out great.”
The space opened around Christmas 2022 and was officially christened with a New Year’s Eve party. The bar has hosted after-rehearsal parties, birthday celebrations, nonprofit events and a corporate appreciation event held on a Monday, normally a closed day. For three years running through 2023, it also hosted a chili cook-off benefiting the American Cancer Society.
“We can handle any kind of event,” Boatman said.
A Good Neighbor in Church Street East
The Ice Box sits in the Church Street East neighborhood, one of Mobile’s historic districts, on the edge of downtown. The owners have made a point of fitting into the residential surroundings.
“We want to be good neighbors and respectful of the neighborhood,” Atchison said. “We hope we are their go-to local watering hole on the edge of downtown.”
Among the features regulars have come to know:
- A pet-friendly policy, as long as dogs are leashed and stay outside
- Singer-songwriters on Sunday afternoons
- Karaoke on Thursdays
- The Hop House dog park across the street
- Private event space in the Side Yard and the former freezer
Schedules and policies can change, so anyone planning a visit should check with the bar for current hours and events.
What Could Come Next
Atchison also owns the old Crystal Ice House garage across the street at 800 Monroe Street, a building he has said could become something special. In 2023 he said he was looking for a partner to develop it.
What was once a vacant light-manufacturing plant has become a lively part of a corner of the city that had been overlooked. For the owners, the partnership has turned into something more than business.
“This is the first time I’ve wanted to partner with friends,” Atchison said. “We were business partners first, and now we are close friends!”