I like things with historical associations, and having a cool one at the St. Elmo bar on Brewery Gulch in Bisbee, Arizona is a "must" while in this old mining town in SE Arizona. St. Elmo got started in 1902 and has been continuously operating ever since, although during prohibition it operated as an ice cream parlor. The decor is "early 20th century tacky" and the management is not afraid to display guns in the place! Here's pic of the interior:



Do you also have a favorite watering hole, and why?

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

None of my favorites are still around. The Compass Rose in the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco was a fav, as well as Jake O'Shaunessys in Seattle. The Liberty Bell Saloon in Reno was another.

A. One that's open.
B. One that has boys AND girls in it.
C. One that doesn't stone smokers as though they were a woman caught NOT wearing a berka.

I am drinking much less these days so don't have a favorite bar.

When I lived in Gainesville, FL for six months, years ago, I had one.
There was a barbecue joint called Ed's on a side street near the U. I went in there for lunch one day and decided to try the goat barbecue. I figured I was a chili-head and felt obliged to try the hot barbecue.
The woman behind the counter wasn't too sure but she gave me a plate of meat with two slices of white bread on the side, and a big cup of RC Cola.

It didn't take too long for me to discover that I wasn't really up to the hot version of the dish. I kept eating, however, and ran through the two slices of bread and the RC in a hurry. Then I staggered up to the counter and asked for a glass of water.
The woman looked at me and smirked,
"When Ed say iss hot, isss HOT!" she said.

I ate the rest of the barbecue drank the water, which didn't help much, and wavered out the door. A few doors away, in a small shopping center was a basement bar. I fell down the stairs, staggered to the bar and croaked,
"Beer."

The bartender turned around, got a frozen mug out of a big freezer, filled it with tap beer and put it in front of me. I drained a lot of it in one gulp. The mug was so cold that a piece of ice rose up off the bottom of the mug when I set it back down on the bar. I drank that beer, and another cold one, before feeling ready to walk back home.
That bar was my favorite as long as I lived in G'ville. You have to feel kindly toward a bar that saved your life.

Ahhhhhhh, so many from which to choose. This will require some thought... Back at ya later.

Be safe.

It's long gone now. Another time and another place, but if'n you don't mind readin' a bit, I'll tell you about the Bloated Goat.

The Bloated Goat

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Eccentric old coot

Thanks, Iggy. I liked that a lot.

Probably one of my favorites is the Buckhorn Bar in Laramie, WY.

The Shark Bar,Beverly Beach,Fla - R.I.P. Mysteriously burned to the ground. After new ownership.

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UWTW&G !!

I've tipped a few in the Buckhorn, and been in a few squabbles with the patrons when I was an Laramie police officer.

Good Lord, that was 43 years ago.

I'm gonna have to stop and see if the Buckhorn is still there.

Might just do that tomorrow..

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Eccentric old coot

The bar in the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. I have only been thrown out of there 3 times. The first time they threw me out, I got my revenge by urinating in the flowers in front of the hotel. It was my birthday, so I have an excuse. For the last 2 times I knew it wasn't personal, so I didn't mind.

Come to think of it, I was pissed the last time they threw me out. I wanted someone to keep the front door open to the hotel, then I was going to ride my motorcycle into the lobby and around the bar, then make my escape out the side door. Nobody wanted to help me.

Capay Junction bar in Capay Junction,Ca.Enjoy!!!My friends and i played music for many years here.Bikers and cowboys[the real kind]always welcome.


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WALSTIB

Newmann's History

Newmann's bar in North St. Paul, Minnesota. Being the oldest bar in Minnesota, the place has a lot of character. It's known as a "biker bar" but all kinds of people go in there and there's seldom any trouble. We've been know to slip in there for a burger and a beer (or two) on cruise night. The food is always hot, the beer is always cold and the waitresses are usually good looking. During summer months they have live music and an outdoor patio too...

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"Shall not be infringed"

Eli's American Grill, Scottsdale Az. used to be one of my favs. heck, back in the day, anyplace with booze was my fav. nowadays i prefer a cup of tea and going to bed early.



this gettin' old stuff is for the birds.

There was a Lesbian bar in downtown Lansing. That was always my favorite. I don't know the name, or if it had one. I never bothered to ask. Just park over on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and walk across. Like all lesbian bars, the ratio of men to women was always pretty good.

Second favorite was a bar further down in the renovated area. Lots of guys wearing leather, boots and cowboy hats in there all the time. Wearing chaps too. Must have been a cowboy bar or something. Everyone sure was nice and always offered to buy me drinks. Guess they were just friendly like that... Huh, never did see any women in there though.

I figured you'd probably been in there a time or two, Iggy. I haven't been in Laramie since I left in '94, but I spent plenty of time in the Buckhorn, great bar! Just last week I was talking to a friend of mine in Laramie, I really want to get back up there next summer and shoot some prairie dogs, I can assure you I'll stop in and have a few at the Buckhorn, might even walk over to The Cowboy, just for old times sake.

With as much of a hermit as my whack job work hours have turned me into, I truly haven't hung in any bars since moving out to the PacNW. God help 'em if I ever find one that's got lot's of hours on it's odometer though! I mean an OLD joint. Today I think they call it "provenance"? There are days I could be talked into maintaining the shuffle board bowling machine, refrigeration, light plumbing and electric work to get a reserved bar stool. Beer and Tombstone pizza's done in a toaster oven, a bar dog to feed Slim Jim's too, and I'd be set!

My favorite is The Quaff Buffet at 1010 Broadway, downtown Kansas City, MO. It was a "good" wino bar when I started going there over 30 years ago. It has morphed with the times and went thru a few years as the yuppie bar of choice. Fortunately that passed. It still has 98% of the original booths, bar, floor, etc. Including the darkened spots on the walls by the booths where greasy heads used to lean while catching a few Z's.

Why do I like it? It's the oldness, the fact that I met the founder, Anthony Bonino (may he Rest in Peace) and know the present owners, his sons Joe and Newt. I also had the pleasure of knowing the old colorful characters that frequented the bar before passing away, Tincy, Old Man Hank, Kenny, Joe Siebel, to name a few.

I can walk in and sit down with either owner and have a conversation and they are glad to see me. I can still run a tab and once was short of cash, so Joe lent me a twenty and put it on my tab.

It don't get no better to me...

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

Around 1981, I once went to a bar somewhere in Manhattan. We went into an antique shop and in the back was a very large wardrobe. You opened the wardrobe doors to reveal a hidden door that led down a hall to a jazz club. Upstairs was a quieter piano bar. It really was neat.

This is the second time St. Elmo's in Bisbee has been mentioned to me. A fellow in bear hunting camp mentioned it also as a favorite spot. As far as my favorite, I gave up alcohol over 10 years ago, so I have no favorite. I look for a good steak, great service and a non smoking restaurant instead.

Frenchies Tavern in Grand Forks ,ND. I had a beer there in each of four decades. Sadly Frenchy closed it up before I could make the 5th decade but I still have an autographed copy of the menu that Frenchy himself signed . There were some interesting altercations there between the local college football and hockey team members. The hockey players always prevailed. It was a great place on Friday afternoons with beer by the pitcher and Janis Joplin on the juke box.

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I like Ike.

There was a cool bar in New Orleans called the Dungeon about thirty years ago. When you walked in from the street, it was a very quiet little place with not much happening. When you went upstairs through the trapdoor, it was a whole different world.

The one on the corner !!!!

i dont go to bars(anymore) but there was a time when i was there every fri and sat night, wish i had all that money back, but i had alot of fun glad im over all that! do my drinking at home now. mike

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!