The pub is closed forever. The one that PDM has been going to for ten years. The one where he first took me to meet his friends back when we started dating. The same place that we've spent nearly every Friday night of our married life together.
There was no advance notice. In fact, the management shut it down in the middle of the evening shift on Monday night and kicked everyone out. A bartender texted a regular about what happened, and he sent a bunch of us an email to break the news on Tuesday. The pub is part of a small local chain. The management's official excuse for their decision is, get this, that they want the chain to be more "family friendly" and this particular location was next door to a strip club. I hate to break it to them, but it is a BAR. If it was full of kids, most of us would go somewhere else.
I am disappointed that it closed, and angry about the way it was handled -- pulling the rug out from under loyal employees and regular customers. There was no chance to say goodbye, no chance to get together and figure out where else to see each other, and no closure. I don't know even how to get in touch with some of the regulars that I will miss, because I don't know their last name (lots of folks are known by their first name, sometimes coupled with their sports affiliation or a nickname).
It hasn't completely sunk in yet. Last night was weird. We felt adrift... moping around at home when we should have been in our usual spot drinking our usual libations, trying to get on the trivia high score list, talking about tomorrow's games, and showing the bartenders the new pictures of Silvio. We ended up going to a place where it is more normal for us to spend Thursday evenings, but we were craving something at least partly familiar. Boomer did her best to cheer us up, and we did enjoy her company and the live music. But Friday night wasn't the same, and never will be.
11 comments:
how much you wanna bet they did it the way they did it to avoid some debts. a lot of that going on these days.
I hope you and the regulars find each other eventually. maybe pick a new Friday place and leave a little flyer on the old place?
in the 5 years I've been living here in NJ I still haven't found a place I want to be a regular of - I miss that.
dianne - it could have been money, I dunno. Some days it was very crowded and sometimes it was dead.
The bar that a lot of people will migrate to has two strikes against it from our point of view: it is much farther to drive, and it is extremely smokey. We'll try a few places nearby in Tucker and see if any of them seem like good hangouts.
Try Zuffy's place, the new incarnation of Fuzzy's. Nicely decorated, a bunch of beers on tap, a patio and the same Cajun food that I'm not fond of. And a plus, it's across the street from a strip club.
dave - funny you should mention that. We were just in Zuffy's this afternoon -- having a celebratory round after nearly having a coronary watching the Tech vs Clemson game at home. We were in the neighborhood buying tile. PDM knows a lot of the people from Fuzzy's (and also from Famous Pub). He used to live over in your neck of the woods, on North Druid Hills road by the high school. And to prove that it is a small world, we ran into a couple of old friends from PDM's Famous Pub days at the tile place.
I'm betting it was your showing pictures of your cats that put them over the edge...
Nobody wants to see that on a Friday. Nobody...
:ewink:
LL - I had no idea cat pictures were such a powerful force of nature. Will have to wield them more carefully in the future!
The bar business is notorious for being fickle. I knew some bar owners back in my long-haired rock 'n' roller days, and they all told me they struggled to get by most of the time. Being a corporate situation, perhaps with the weak economy they were wanting to get rid of a loser.
Now the good news: Georgia Tech is in the Top 25. Like I said, beating Clemson at Clemson finally gave them some respect.
Well, that just stinks. They could have at least let everyone know ahead of time and get everyone in for 'last call'. Could have made some extra cash before they closed the door too.
wow that was a suprise post. I was expecting something more on the puddy cat! Sorry your bar closed. It is the economy.
dr s - this place was pretty stable for PDM to have been going there for ten years. It could be the economy, but you would think they would say that, rather than the "family friendly" crap. But they would have had a better chance for regulars to go to one of their other locations if they had handled things differently. We won't be spending another dime on them. As for Tech, I am happy to see them in the top 25. They have exceeded everyone's expectations, worked hard, and deserve some recognition. We have a lot more to work on though. Hope they can stay there. The schedule from here on out doesn't have any easy games.
nypinta - that is the worst part of it. The sudden "not there" part. And no closure. Still don't know the real reason why they did it like they did. We will find out more as we catch up with people.
jennylu - the cat pictures are coming, I promise. How could I disappoint LL, who is no doubt anxiously awaiting the next edition of catblogging?
Ive been in that situation before. It is hard to let go. The local pub we hung out at was owned by a really great guy that simply wanted to retire. He was always at the door with a rose for the ladies and was very generous. The place held a mixed crowd at any given time and the bands were mixed as well. It was a place for everyone. Even during the early evenings there were kids there with family for pizza. But after 9pm, it was 21 or over.
He held a big party for the regulars on closing night, which was a Sunday. Early Monday morning, the cleaning lady came in and found him slumped on the bar. He had a heartattack after he closed. It was really a sad loss.
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