Dive Bar Shirt Club: Backdoor Tavern

A week or so ago I received an e-mail from Dive Bar Shirt Club telling me that this would be my last shirt and that I would have to renew my membership.  I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to continue this service.  I mean, I really do love it -- and it is a lot of fun getting a "present" every single month. And the shirts are a nice quality that I wear all the time.  Plus, it's neat getting shirts from all around the country.  I've really, really enjoyed it.  However, while affordable, it is still a somewhat hefty investment (I would like to remind everybody, though, that you can subscribe for any time period.  It doesn't have to be a year) and above all else, I'm running out of drawer space.  Ultimately, I decided that I would either continue my membership for a shorter period of time, or I would go on a brief hiatus and re-evaluate things after a couple of months.

And in the end, that's what I decided to do.  I'm going to end my membership at this point, and decide in 2013 if I want to go back.  Having said that, I HIGHLY recommend this as a gift idea for anybody out there.  It's a really cool idea and I've been really pleased with each shirt.  Like I said, I wear them all the time.

Okay, with that introduction out of the way, let's get to this month's shirt.  If it's my last one, I really think I went out on top.  For one, it's a color I've never received before (and this is my 24th shirt).  It's teal, which I actually quite like.  And the design on the front of a woman sitting within a circle is awesome.  Again, unlike any I've received in the past.  And finally, it's from an a part of the country that hasn't been ventured yet in my Dive Bar Shirt Club history, Knoxville, Tennessee.  The only downside?  They don't have a website, which means ordinarily means that I have to manually type out what's on the bulletin.  However, since the introduction was already a million pages long, I'm just going to copy and paste from an article that was linked from their Facebook page:

Ted Cook played basketball for the University of Tennessee and was best known for his dominant performance in the 1943 Southeastern Conference Tournament title game against Kentucky. Cook, known as a practical joker, was commonly called by the nickname, "Joe Toddy." While the origins of the name are a mystery, by the late 40's only UK coaching legend Adolph Rupp refused the moniker.

When Cook was a no-show at a Kentucky visit to Alumni Gym in the late 40's Rupp was said to have turned and asked, "Where the hell's Cook, I haven't heard him all night?" to note the absence of his biggest heckler, who regularly procured seats directly behind the Wildcats bench for their games in Knoxville.

Cook opened the liquor store and tavern at the then Knoxville city limits on what was formally known as Thunder Road. His sons and widow ran the businesses in the 1990's. Toddy's Liquor Store, under older Brother John Cook, moved to 4887 Kingston Pike in late 2007. Toddy's Back Door Tavern remains at 4951 under younger brother Barry and is now known simply as the Back Door Tavern or BDT.

Backdoor Tavern Facebook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/BDT-The-Back-Door-Tavern/32198371737

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Caddy Shack Bar & Grill

We're back to the big design on the front of the shirt (blank on the back), and this month's shirt is bright red. I've only received two red shirts thus far, and one of them was a bit faded (which was neat), so this one stands out a bit.  And hey, I don't think I've ever received a shirt from Iowa before!  Plus, the name Caddy Shack brings back some memories of the classic movie.  Anyway, I got all excited because the mailer had a website address on it, which I thought would mean I could just do a simple cut and paste.  But the website is pretty crappy (really....check it out), so it looks like I gotta do some typing!

Council Bluffs rises to overlook the Missouri River.  Across the water is Omaha.  Over time men have come to this place where you could start a journey to find your passion.  They boarded the wagon train, the steamboat, the railroad.  Today most men seek their passion closer to home.  And for some guys, golf is the thing.  But you can't be on the golf course all the time, so for one man, this was the next best place to have fun.  He found a building circa 1920 that had spent decades as a corner store in the residential neighborhood.  In 1986 this family-owned-and-operated watering hole was open.  A kitchen was added and comfort food faves got ready to satisfy.  Tacos, wings, grilled cheese.  A long lineup you forgot you loved.

Caddy Shack Bar & Grill Website:   http://caddyshackinc.com/index.html 

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Tiny Tap

My Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt for the month of July just arrived in the mail, and for the first time since my VERY FIRST T-SHIRT over one year ago, this shirt features a design on the front breast and the entire back.  Very cool -- almost all of the ones I've received just have a design on the front center.  So, it's a nice change of pace.  Plus, it's a color I've never had (cream).  So, straight from Tampa, here's Tiny Tap.  I was able to find this little blurb online:

A dive in tony SoHo? You bet, and it's one of the best in Tampa Bay. It's certainly Tampa's oldest, having opened in the 1930s. Low-key, lo-fi and low-cost (cheap PBRs keep the Urban Outfitters crowd coming back for more), Tiny Tap's an unfussy oasis in a desert of chic.


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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Burt's Tiki Lounge

I received my June Dive Bar Shirt Club and it's a nice color scheme I haven't really had yet -- a dark gray (almost black) shirt with a yellow design.  A very nice change of pace.  But while Burt's Tiki Lounge has a website, which means I can do a simple cut and paste, there's no information on it that I can transfer here.  So here's a brief synopsis of the bar:


You can lounge around with the natives and a century of tropical relics.  Vintage surfer vibes has exploded on every possible surface.  Ancient supernatural tiki power invades the darkness.  You breathe it in.  A fantastic beer selection and exotic cocktails encourage the primitive instincts.  Cutting edge rock bands take you deeper, into one loud, savage dance groove -- kindred jungle spirits go wild.


Burt's Tiki Lounge Website:  http://burtstikilounge.com/ 

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Mahogany Shoals Bar

I received my latest Dive Bar Shirt Club tee the other day, but I'm only getting around to posting it now.  It's another great looking one -- this one white, with a pretty cool lobster/beer glass logo.  I do have to wonder, though, if it'd be possible to get a ringer t-shirt for one of these designs.  Maybe I'll ask the guys on Twitter!  Anyway, Mahogany Shoals doesn't have a website, Facebook, or any apparent press whatsoever, so I've got to do some legwork here and type out this description myself:

A story old as time, man against nature, man against the sea, man against tuna, striper, blues.  Will a large vessel and impressive equipment be a match for such powerful and elusive swimmers?  More adventures await when you slip your pleasure raft into the laid-back marina of Old Harbor and Payne's Dock.  The salt life pretty much requires a taste for just the essentials and Mahogany Shoals believes that as well.  You can sit with sudsy friends and celebrate your smugglers, shipwrecks, and the ones that got away.  Fog rolls in, details fade, and wet timbers creak and groan under the weight as they shift with the rhythm of Mother Ocean.  This is a place where it really helps to have a long pole and a line a mile long.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: Website - Twitter - Facebook

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Greasewood Flat

I received my Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt for the month of April yesterday, and for only the (I believe) second time since joining the club, I actually wore the shirt right away. This is our busy season at work, so every Friday and Saturday (if you need to come in) you're allowed to wear jeans. As an added way to enjoy the day, there's also a designated theme for each weekend. This weekend's theme was "Destinations," and what better way to exemplify that than by wearing a t-shirt from a dive bar in Arizona. And hey, the place has a website as well (although it's a .net), so that means I can just cut and paste. Love the t-shirt, though!

1880's Stage Stop
During the Arizona Territory days, Reata Pass was on an old stagecoach stop along a dust-filled, rocky trail that wandered often steeply uphill northeast from Phoenix and on to connect Fort McDowell on the Verde River and Prescott. Crossing the McDowell Mountains in those days was no easy task as the climb took its toll on the passengers and horses. Travelers were treated to a hearty meal and cool drink while the horses were being watered, A knee-high foundation of boulders and mortar supported a wooden one-room stage station built in 1882. Portions of the adobe walls and old stone foundation still exist, making Reata Pass the most authentic "cowboy" restaurant in the Valley. The old jailhouse across the road is original and was used elsewhere in the 1880's to hold Indian prisoners.

Scottsdale's Pioneer Blacksmith Family
The Cavalliere family was one of the first to settle in Scottsdale, before the town's incorporation. They still own and run Scottsdale's oldest continuous business, the historic Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop in Old Town, founded in 1909. George "Doc" Cavalliere II purchased Reata Pass in the fifties and proceeded to add on to the western "town" as an event would require. Three generations of graceful Cavalliere ornamental ironwork accent the various inside as well as the patio and cookout areas outside. Rusty western relics collected by the family over the years, such as branding irons and spurs, hang in scores from the rafters and walls here and the family's sister cowboy bar next door, Greasewood Flat.

Movie Location
Reata Pass has been used as a backdrop for several movies over the years. "Cancel My Reservation", "Raising Arizona" and earlier portions of "Bonanza" were shot here. Bob Hope and a young Michael Landon frequented the restaurant during the filmings. At one point movie producers built a church as a backdrop for an early western called "Peace and the Gunfighter". In addition we have hosted many of the rich and famous, such as Tennessee Ernie Ford and Barry Goldwater to name a few. We even built a large chair for one of our regular customers, who weighed around 500 pounds.

Greasewood Flat Website: http://greasewoodflat.net

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: McCarthy's Irish Pub

I received my latest Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt and not only is it a color I haven't received yet -- it's also perfect for some St. Patrick's Day celebrating! Remember to follow Dive Bar Shirt Club on Twitter, and visit their Facebook page as well! They've added some high quality photos of the shirts they're released....and they've even featured my blog on their page (pretty awesome)! Anyway, this month's bar -- McCarthy's Irish Pub (fitting, given the month) -- has a...ahem....MySpace page, so I'm just going to copy and cut the info from their page:

When you come into McCarthy's remember this; Many have been here before you and shared in their libation. Treat the pub with the same respect you'd give your own grandparents, and in turn we'll show you a great night! Our employees are the best in the business and have been serving drinks well before you turned 21. Come in and have a drink, revel in the pictures from our old location, 1019 Court street and sit on the same stools as the legendary drinkers from the past. Cheers!

McCarthy's Irish Pub MySpace Page (yeah, you read that): http://www.myspace.com/mccarthysirishpub

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Antonio's Nut House

Not only did I just received my Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt for the month of February, but Dive Bar Shirt Club is now on Twitter as well! That's right, follow them at @divebarshirts. They're pretty cool guys and they've been supportive of my posts, so be sure to follow them.

Oh, and the news gets better. Not only do I really like the latest t-shirt (let's see: It's blue, which is my favorite color. And there's a gorilla on it, which is always cool. And I'm definitely not too grown up for a solid innuendo like "grab your nuts"), but for the second month in a row the bar of choice has a website, which means all I gotta do is cut and paste:

Despite the glut of coffee bars and upscale eateries on this stretch of California drive, Antonio's is a prime example of a neighborhood bar -- high on the basic requirements of beer, burgers and pool. That said, it's a favorite of the party-hardy college crowd.

Doors open at 9am, when patrons can enjoy full proprietorship of the lone jukebox, billiards table or dartboard, but saturday night is all about elbow-to-elbow group imbibing. Antonio's nut house is a place to drink -- and drink some more. Sure, you can get actual peanuts from a mechanical gorilla; but even the seen-it- all bartender admits, "it gets a little wild sometimes." expect frequent spillage.

Azteca taqueria, a full-sized grill making Mexican specialties as well as burgers and grilled sandwiches, shares the large space with Antonio's, and is open late into the evening.

Antonio's Nut House Website: http://antoniosnuthouse.com/

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Billy Goat Saloon

I sincerely apologize for having not posted any of my Year End Survey results yet, but I have been sick the past few days and haven't really done more than lie in bed and watch movies. However, my Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt FINALLY arrived (10 days into the new month -- still haven't received my WWE Magazine, though) so I figured this was as good a time as any to post about that. One thing that struck me about this one: The randomly and inconsistently colorful lettering. Odd. Oh, and this bar actually has a website, making this so, so, so much easier. That may have been worth the wait alone (strangely, the website features this t-shirt, minus the colored lettering). Well, here ya' go:

The Billy Goat Saloon has been an island for thirsty travelers, a refreshing watering hole for touring motorcyclists and a live music hot spot for the Four Corners area for 30 years. The building that houses the Billy Goat Saloon was originally built in 1952, and has served as a rock shop and a café in the aptly named Gem Village before becoming a bar in the late 1950's. It went by the names the Coloradoan, the Westerner, the Last Chance Saloon, and then finally the Billy Goat Saloon in 1982. The Goat will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2012.

Billy Goat Saloon Website: http://thebillygoatsaloon.com/

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Buckhorn Bar

Stand back -- I think I have an official favorite Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt! I opened up the package and loved this thing. It's a faded red and has a distressed logo/design on the front. Very cool looking. It actually reminds me of the Old School t-shirts on WWEShop.com. Well, here's a thing or two about the bar itself:

When you're feelin' kinda parched in old downtown Laramie, you can mosey on over to the Buckhorn. It took more than a hundred years to get it like this, the perfect watering hole for the cowboy spirit that likes to range and ride. Mounted rifles and wildlife are caught in time. Art and artifacts pay their respects to the manly pursuits and the woodsman's blade carves out an adventurous history. There's something in every nook and cranny and each with a story. Some stories were punctuated with fistfights and guns. Random bullet holes remind folks what can happen when one too many meets up with love gone wrong. Upstairs you find the parlor for a different level of amusements. In the old days in this neighborhood the upper floors could mean female pleasures. It's no different at the Buck. You have your own bar, live music and a well-worn dance floor to find your groove with your gal. The night of the hunter is dark and dangerous and you might want to take care. This place can be a temptation to whip out that six-shooter.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Friar Tuck

Just a few days after receiving my October shirt, my November shirt has arrived! And perhaps in tribute to everybody's favorite wrestler, this bar comes straight from Chicago! I wonder if I was there when I visited a couple of years ago. Anyway, here you go....

This 40-year-old neighborhood bar is literally a hole in the wall. It serves up a heaping helping of ye old atmosphere while celebrating the monk's holy-est water....beer. Dark walls are covered with photos of past patrons "tucked" behind Plexiglas doors. You'll discover decades of awesome bar going fashion like 70's bell-bottoms and beards and 80's mullets and mustaches. Beyond that you'll find a crackling fire and Friar Tuck himself raising his glass to the star of the show....a sheep. Many places have embarrassing birthday traditions and friends just love forcing them on you. You might say Friar Tuck holds the trophy for the best or most humiliating depending on your point of view. It's a very popular tradition to drink a birthday shot out of an inflatable sheep's butt while the whole bar sings happy birthday to you.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Koz's Mini Bowl

Better late than never, right? It's October 30th and I FINALLY got my Dive Bar t-shirt for the month of October. And with this crazy snow storm hitting us, and it appearing like I won't be able to go out for Halloween (leaving last night's festivities as the only one on my schedule), this is as good a time as any to post the photo and description:

Vintage duckpin bowling is hard to find these days which is why Koz's takes reservations for lanes over the phone. This makes sure kids in the neighborhood are on site for pin setting. They're employed to frantically reset the game before the next ball speeds down the alley. This granddaddy of today's bowling is popular because no matter how you've scored in the past, you will have great improvement over regular bowling. You're a powerful contender when you take on smaller balls and pins and a shorter alley. You'll feel like a giant. This will be an important advantage when you enjoy great lakes of what made Milwaukee famous.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Which Shirt Was Your Favorite?

Now that I've received a full year's worth of shirts, I thought I'd let you guys vote on which one was your favorite! Vote in the poll below, and click the link to view each shirt! Your input is appreciated.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: The Kingfish Pub & Cafe

Well, this marks the final t-shirt of my first year with the Dive Bar Shirt Club. Should I re-up my subscription? Right now, I'm leaning towards "yes." It was a pretty worthwhile investment. And this one is from California! And it revolves around shuffleboard, so that's cool with me.

They say this San Francisco Bay neighborhood watering hole got its name during Prohibition when it pretended to be a bait and tackle shop. Of course the catch of the day was 80 proof. Now it's a man cave that's solidly powered by testosterone. There's a fever on the mound as the walls celebrate champion ball players while TVs give you the warm glow of live streaming action. In the back of the vintage scoreboard lights your way as shuffleboard offers to take your puck on one incredible super long ride. When the mood strikes you can add your own thoughts to the decades of beer-inspired philosophy that has erupted into chalk talk on every available space. Low ceilings? Perfect. Just don't go nuts looking up. There's nothing quite like the salt life and this sportman's dream when you want to put out your own sign: gone fishing.

So with a full year of t-shirts to look at, is anybody interested in me posting a Poll so that you can vote on which shirt looked best?

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Smith's Union

Well, I'm back from vacation (great time), and while I was gone I received my August Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt. And for the first time since I began my membership, I got a shirt from outside of the continental United States! That's right, I've infiltrated Hawaii! Strangely, the logo refers to the bar as "Smith Union's" while the description calls it "Smith's Union." I decided to go with the latter, because that's what my Internet search seems to prefer.

The oldest bar in Honolulu opened in 1934 on the edge of Chinatown down by the waterfront. It was the heart of the red-light district where big ships came in and unloaded a cargo of merchant seamen and sailors looking for love. Hotel Street was willing with cold beer, hot times and a large side order of sin. Today there are more tourists than longshoremen and respectable art and culture have generally replaced prostitutes and peep shows. But Smith's Union is still a legend all over the world and the perfect place to escape long lines and stupid prices. You can ride high on waves of foarm with the bell from the Mariposa and other weathered relics from a seafaring past. Tall tales grow longer by the minute. You're seduced by the green glow of tiki magic and persistent beat of the tides. Tune up your ukulele for this one. You never know what can happen when you slip between these fringes.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Pic-A-Lilli Pub

I received my July Dive Bar t-shirt -- a really cool red and dark gray circular logo against a light gray t-shirt -- which I'm very happy with. Plus, this is a place I could conceivably go to, right in Atlantic City. And, praise the Lord, Pic-A-Lilli Pub actually has a website (their Shamong location, anyway)!!! That means I don't have to retype the bulletin, I'll just copy and paste what the site says. Enjoy!

For many years the business flourished and many, many friends were made. The whole family was involved in operating the business. Pickett and Florence poured their love and devotion into the food and drink while Donnie worked in the kitchen, Bonnie and all of the boys’ wives worked in the dining room, and the comic duo of Bruce and Wallace managed the bar. Sadly, Florence passed away in 1980, and Pickett, Jr. continued to run the business until his dying day in the year 2000.

But the legend continues….in the early 1990’s Bruce and his wife Sandy opened Russell’s Pic II on the White Horse Pike in Ancora, and the Pic-A-Lilli Pub opened on Tennessee Avenue & the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Donnie and his wife, Barbara, opened Pic-A-Lilli Wings & Things and Pic-A-Deli on Jackson Road, in Medford.

Pic-A-Lilli Website: http://www.picalilli.com/

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Billy Ray's Neighborhood Dive

Onto June's Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt, and this month we visit Portland, Oregon. And as it happens, it's navy blue! I will say, this program does a nice job of mixing up the color scheme. Anyway, here's everything you need to know about this establishment! And hey, it's about time we get a haunted bar!

The sign on the front says Tavern so if you're looking for Billy Ray's you might get confused. They started selling burgers downstairs sometime in the first half of the last century. Then it became the neighborhood watering hole, and over the years it's seen major misadventures. A car crashed through the front of the building, and a few decades back a death upstairs started stories that it was haunted. Those stories survive. Just ask the people who work here. They say it's creepy. Almost a dozen years ago Billy Ray came along and wanted to make a grown-up place to play. He stripped out the upstairs residence and filled it with pool and pinball. The walls are an altered state of paint that goes great with giant mugs of beer and flipper frenzy. If you're hungry or just run out of quarters, they have homey options on the menu....Banquet TV dinners. You can take your feast out on the patio where Pacific breezes make cool promises, and ping pong offers another challenge. The regulars wanted still more action, so they started a softball team, the Dive Bombers. Portland is full of players and this place is a home run for truly spirited competition.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Gravity Pub

Continuing the trend of dive bars not having websites necessitating me having to type out the information on the bulletin, here's a little something on Gravity Pub in Atlanta, which by the way has a really cool looking logo (I'm a fan of this shirt):

A dramatic ceiling of exposed beams and naked wiring and ductwork sets a stage for blood red and biker black. Wall decor is the predator's art. The Gravity's deadly vibe had such appeal that "Zombie Juice" was filmed in here. The small space used to be an old barber shop, the kind with straight razors and hot lather. Now the neighborhood comes for cold suds and deep-fried favorites like corn pups and crunchy tots smothered in cheesy lava. This fuels the competitive energy for nocturnal amusements like beer bingo, poker, trivia and darts. The action heats up in the back of the bar because two teams of the Atlanta Decatur Dart Association call this place home. There's always something to do in this "black hole of fun," as they call it. Or you can just sit there with a cold one and be bad.

Gravity Pub (on Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gravity-Pub/109583179078309

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Mag Bar

I received my April Dive Bar T-shirt, and for the first time ever I actually wore it right away. It's pretty cool looking, the first that really feels like a graphic t-shirt. Anyway, since they DO have a Facebook page, I'm just going to copy and paste what they said (briefly) about this Louisville, KY bar:

Having a good time and drinking the good booze. Many times over pronounced as having the best jukebox in Louisville, if not the world!

Pool tables! Some of the lowest prices in town!

Mag Bar: Myspace (yes, you read that right) - Facebook

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Raven Bar & Grill

I received my next dive bar t-shirt, and this one comes from our Nation's capital. And, following the trend of the past few months, this place doesn't have a website. Or even a Facebook page, actually. So, alas, I need to rewrite what they included in the mailer. Oh well.

The Raven was built in 1935 soon after the end of Prohibition, and the nation was in the mood for a drink. It started out as a liquor store but the neighborhood soon asked for a place to sit. Some booths were fitted into the narrow space and a favorite urban watering hole was born. Out of necessity they kept it simple. Beer comes in bottles and cans and in spite of its name the only food is clipped on a chip rack. By the 195o's people were feeling pretty great and entertainment icons found their black and white faces on the walls and their sounds on the tabletop jukeboxes. Things look like they've stayed the same since then, maybe because if it isn't broke, why fix it? Or even if if it is broke, apparently. Poor lighting is kind where history lives in the beat-up wood and mismatched barstools. You can find plenty of inspiration from generations of suds-soaked philosophy on gangrene walls in restrooms that would scare away lesser beings. A visit to the Raven Grill almost requires an appreciation of the fact that some of the best times in life are to be found in the dark.

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