Keeping the Card
Every trip to a bar or brewery holds an air of mystery over where that visit may take you. With a day or night ahead, possibilities are only restricted by the tap list and responsibilities of tomorrow. Which means some level of certainty is welcomed and appreciated.
A beer is placed in front of you. You present your credit or debit card. The bartender offers a simple reassurance of “I’ll hand this right back,” and there’s one less worry. Wherever your stay may take you, your wallet or purse is made whole again. Even if you forget to close out, the 18 percent gratuity doesn’t hurt. That card is right where it’s supposed to be, ready to reappear. Your ticket to new places and tastes. –Bryan Roth
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There’s a bar outside of Albany, the Man of Kent. The last time I was there, they had one television, a fairly small one, that I was told was just for major news and sports events. It’s up in the corner of the room. And behind sits the ashes of a former regular — I think his name was Horst? — who hated the television, but loved the Man of Kent, and asked to be “buried” there. They put him in the one place in the room where he wouldn’t have to look at the screen. I like that.
What a great story- stories like this sum up the real community of what a bar creates and breathes life into
Nice one, Lew. I recently saw an article about Anthony Bourdain where he basically bashes a lot of the craft beer environment; he spoke about walking into a craft beer bar and witnessing several people carefully drinking flights and making an “experience” out of it. His words: “”This is not a bar. This is f—ing Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This is wrong. This is not what a bar is about.”
I think the old idea of a “bar” is already well-known: a place where you watch the game as you work on quietly getting drunk, stewing in your thoughts.
While Bourdain may have a point, I would posit many craft beer bars are not these types of “bars.” You don’t go to see how many shots you can handle before browning out as you watch sports, you go to drink exquisite beer and connect with your friends around you.
I do appreciate that the craft beer bars and brewpubs are locally owned and so far I haven’t seen a lot of turnover in staff here in Dayton, O. It kind of makes your day to walk in and they know your name. Also as a local tour guide the owners are always willing to throw a t-shirt or two my way to give to one of my guests.
It’s a fickle thing that you can’t cater to all types. It really reflects on the establishment whether TV’s and disturbances are allowed. Several taprooms in Tulsa offer TV’s mainly for sports but American Solera is very minimalist with a community table and picnic benches outside in essence to bring community together. But knowing the brewers, it’s just their personality and experience they want to give their customers.