Threadhead Hometown Tavern Tour

[BigDag]

In the years I've been hanging around these boreds, I've noticed that many of the participants like to have a sip or two of various alcoholic beverages.

And I bet most everyone has a favorite haunt or hangout in the city where you live; someplace special to enjoy a cocktail. Even you old married people :) who don't get out much, must have a favorite bar that you lean on occassionally.

I thoight it might be fun to share these places, and I'll go first. If you're ever driving through Mobile Alabama, you'd likely find me at the Airport Boulevard location of Wintzell's Oyster House.

Wintzell's has been an instution in Mobile for many generations. The downtown location has been serving oysters "fried, stewed and nude" since the 30's.

They have great food, ice cold cheap beer ($1 draft), and entertaining bartenders & oyster shuckers. There is an interesting collection of characters who hang out in there regularly.

The walls are covered with bits of wisdom and wit collected over the years by the founder, J. Oliver Wintzell, whose family ran the place into the 1970's.

You can get a feel for the place here:

http://www.wintzellsoysterhouse.com/

So, where do you go where everyone knows your name?

[NYMAMA]

There is a real local bar across from the railroad tracks in Patchoughe NY(Long Island) called KAPPLERS. Usually some local group playing or Sat. nite open mike nite(my hubby is a finger pickin gitar player)The bartender is Edie and she make an evil long island ice tea. After two of her teas the world is a rosey but blurrrry place.Anytime anyone is in the neighborhood drop me a line and I'll buy you two.

[Amy Winette]

Oh, so many faves! If you're ever out in the Bay Area and make it over to our neighborhood on the coast, we'll meet you at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company -- there's music almost every day of the week too :)

http://www.hmbbrewingco.com/

In the city (San Fran, for those of you who think there's another "the city") :) Butter will always be our Cheers :p

http://www.smoothasbutter.com/

[mdfest]

My Butter visors(actually have 2) have been all over the country this year. Love em!

[Amy Winette]

Fantastic! They're going to give us more for this year's fest I think :)

[funkkjunkie]

I'm not much of a drinker but I do have a favorite music spot in Little Rock: Sticky Fingerz RocknRoll Chicken Shack. The place is tres cool with art all over the walls created by Suzon, coowner and sometimes bartender. It's where I go to see Nawlins bands. www.stickyfingerz.com

[mightyradgumbo]

One of my faves is the L Street Tap (or Tavern, officially) in Southie (the Irish section of Boston). If you have seen Good Will Hunting-it is the bah at the beginning of the movie.

We have every level of Bar for every level of Drinker

MaryAnns (or ScaryAnns as it is affectionately known) is a fave of BC students.

Drinking is a pastime well known to Bostonians

[Corona]

Is that where Shamarr's band is playing Vic?

[tangledupinblue]

I love this little dive bar in Manhattan. We always try our best to stay away from it and head home early BUT something comes over us at 2am..... Steely Dan sings about it in their song "Black Cow"

"In the corner / Of my eye / I saw you in Rudy's / You were very high"
Song: Black Cow Album: Aja

Rudy's Bar and Grill, a popular drinking establishment in New York City. Located on 9th Avenue & 44th Street in the heart of the formerly-infamous but now-gentrified "Hell's Kitchen" district of Manhattan. Rudy's is a lively and informal "dive" bar best known for its cheap drinks and free hot dogs, and regarded by many as the perfect place to get legless after work.

[breambob]

In Shreveport it's The Cub. Cheapest and most potent dinks in town, so it is very popular. The kind of place you can go back to after 20 years and see the same folks you did before. It's become popular with the Hollywood stars while they are filming here, Jessica Simpson was in the other night. Great steaks, burgers and burritos and the best Augratin taters in the world.

[funkkjunkie]

He doesn't know yet. I think it's a private patry.

[mightyradgumbo]

Rudy's Bar and Grill, a popular drinking establishment in New York City. Located on 9th Avenue & 44th Street in the heart of the formerly-infamous but now-gentrified "Hell's Kitchen" district of Manhattan. Rudy's is a lively and informal "dive" bar best known for its cheap drinks and free hot dogs, and regarded by many as the perfect place to get legless after work.

YYR, Tangled. I have spent a few (or maybe more) legless nights in Rudy's in my days in the City. Reminds me of several bars around Beantown.

[glinda]

hmmm, so many bars, so little time... Guess I'll name one favorite, The Billy Goat Tavern on lower Michigan Ave. Not so much for the "Cheezborgor, cheezborgor, cheezborger. No fries, Cheeps" that it's famous for, but for the house drink, the horny goat. Can't even remember if it's grapefruit & vodka or some other juice. No matter. It's strong & it's cheap, and on lower Michigan (under the streets) its always dark , so even if you come & go during daylight hours its dark & easy on the eyes when you leave.

[NOLA]

Aw, this is no fun - y'all know all the good bars in New Orleans. In fact, despite the fact that I've lived here 13 years, I've learned a thing or two about New Orleans from the Threadhead population over the years!

Maybe I could do a 3-D matrix of my favorite New Orleans bars, sorted by neighborhood, by day of the week, and by time of day (lunchtime, afternoon, Happy Hour, Late Night). That sounds like a worthwhile project for the week between Christmas and New Year's!

I actually had the idea (over multiple drinks and after searching my brain for the best place to consume said drinks) of creating a "Guide to New Orleans Happy Hour Specials" but the idea had less appeal when contemplated in light of the next day's hangover. Oh well.

[mplsbear]

At the annual x-mas party blow out one year, I overheard a women exclaiming
"I only drink in bars with flat roofs!
read trhe history to get a feel.
AL'S PLACE
Al's Place was built in 1926 at 3912 Excelsior Blvd. This two-story establishment was originally faced with red Chicago brick. We’re unsure of the original owner, but in 1927, Al J. Lovass and Mary Vlavianous obtained a license to sell soft drinks and operate a restaurant. Others remember it as a grocery store or a confectionary. Whatever was going on upstairs, bootlegger Al and his wife supplied their customers with more than pop in their basement "party room"/speakeasy that featured a large fieldstone fireplace. Al's friendship with the Sheriff ensured that he and his card playing, drinking customers were safe from prosecution. Al, of Norwegian descent, and his wife lived above the bar until they bought a house in southwest Minneapolis in the 1940's. John Reid remembers that Al wanted to sell the bar after WWII, but local attorney Heine Kuhlman talked them out of it because he knew it was a gold mine. "Heine was upset because they never gave him anything for that good advice."


In 1933 the establishment was listed as Al's Cafe in the first St. Louis Park Directory, reflecting its status before the end of prohibition the following year. The first addition, to the east, was built in 1934. This room originally had big windows so one could see the golf course, but in one misguided fit of remodeling the windows were covered over (they’re still there in the wall). In 1952 the liquor store was added to the west side but closed in 1980. Because of regulations imposed by the City, the former liquor store can now only be used for storage.


Al died in 1952, and his liquor license went to Williamm C. Lovaas and NW National Bank as co-administrators of the estate. Paul B. Haugejorden, became the manager/owner. He was a bachelor who lived upstairs at one point, and at Minikahda Court when he died in September 1966. Jim Holme, Al's nephew, and Walter J. Holme, Al's cousin, ran it from 1966 to at least 1977, when Jim Holme sold it to bartender Woody Jones and David Payne.


Al's was an especially popular place when there was an election in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis bars were closed, since Al's was the first bar across the city line. Al's had a collection of "character bartenders:" Gar Case was a song and dance man from the old vaudeville days. He knew every joke and story ever told and liked to share them with his customers. If he started to tell a story he never quit until he finished, regardless of who was waiting for a drink. Another bartender was Knox Delaney. He had a diamond in one of his front teeth and loved to flash a big smile, especially to the ladies, so you could see the diamond.


Al's never closed because of inclement weather. During the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, people walked on top of cars to find refuge at Al's, where they partied for 3-4 days. Al cashed checks, and opened at 8 a.m. to accommodate third shift workers who were just getting off work. Al's also strove to be a good neighbor by buying up adjacent lots as a buffer between the bar and nearby houses.

[mangoon]

At the annual x-mas party blow out one year, I overheard a women exclaiming
"I only drink in bars with flat roofs!
read trhe history to get a feel.
AL'S PLACE
Al's Place was built in 1926 at 3912 Excelsior Blvd. This two-story establishment was originally faced with red Chicago brick. We’re unsure of the original owner, but in 1927, Al J. Lovass and Mary Vlavianous obtained a license to sell soft drinks and operate a restaurant. Others remember it as a grocery store or a confectionary. Whatever was going on upstairs, bootlegger Al and his wife supplied their customers with more than pop in their basement "party room"/speakeasy that featured a large fieldstone fireplace. Al's friendship with the Sheriff ensured that he and his card playing, drinking customers were safe from prosecution. Al, of Norwegian descent, and his wife lived above the bar until they bought a house in southwest Minneapolis in the 1940's. John Reid remembers that Al wanted to sell the bar after WWII, but local attorney Heine Kuhlman talked them out of it because he knew it was a gold mine. "Heine was upset because they never gave him anything for that good advice."


In 1933 the establishment was listed as Al's Cafe in the first St. Louis Park Directory, reflecting its status before the end of prohibition the following year. The first addition, to the east, was built in 1934. This room originally had big windows so one could see the golf course, but in one misguided fit of remodeling the windows were covered over (they’re still there in the wall). In 1952 the liquor store was added to the west side but closed in 1980. Because of regulations imposed by the City, the former liquor store can now only be used for storage.


Al died in 1952, and his liquor license went to Williamm C. Lovaas and NW National Bank as co-administrators of the estate. Paul B. Haugejorden, became the manager/owner. He was a bachelor who lived upstairs at one point, and at Minikahda Court when he died in September 1966. Jim Holme, Al's nephew, and Walter J. Holme, Al's cousin, ran it from 1966 to at least 1977, when Jim Holme sold it to bartender Woody Jones and David Payne.


Al's was an especially popular place when there was an election in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis bars were closed, since Al's was the first bar across the city line. Al's had a collection of "character bartenders:" Gar Case was a song and dance man from the old vaudeville days. He knew every joke and story ever told and liked to share them with his customers. If he started to tell a story he never quit until he finished, regardless of who was waiting for a drink. Another bartender was Knox Delaney. He had a diamond in one of his front teeth and loved to flash a big smile, especially to the ladies, so you could see the diamond.


Al's never closed because of inclement weather. During the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, people walked on top of cars to find refuge at Al's, where they partied for 3-4 days. Al cashed checks, and opened at 8 a.m. to accommodate third shift workers who were just getting off work. Al's also strove to be a good neighbor by buying up adjacent lots as a buffer between the bar and nearby houses.

LOL. Ok , my favorite bar pretty much blows after the description of Al"s.

[mplsbear]

LOL. Ok , my favorite bar pretty much blows after the description of Al"s.

Yeah, thanks, sorry for the long post, but I can't fiqure out how to send links yet, on this board. Any tips?

And I'm sure that your fav bar, probably has a flat roof.:) I don't quite get that but it usually becomes clear as mud after a couple rum and cokes
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