#4831 - Morcilla, Pittsburgh, PA - 10/5/2022

Morcilla, Pittsburgh, PA 

Morcilla is one of our favorite restaurants in the city, and if you're not interested in random bar history notes you should stop reading now and just go there if/when you're in the Pittsburgh area.

But I did spend some time investigating the history of bars in this location and for me there were some fairly intriguing stories, even if the info was largely limited to license applications and obituaries. The first bar I could find in the space was a saloon of unknown name owned by Jacob Stein, "a great big, blonde-bearded man," who was denied a liquor license in 1889, but granted one in 1890.

Stein died later that year at age 44 "from the effects of an abscess back of his ear." His wife Anna Stein then assumed ownership of the business, though she did not work in the bar, and she nearly lost the license in 1894 as anonymous sources reported she allowed women to drink there and colored people to "collect" there. In Sep 1896 she married Frank Oesterle, who was the head bartender since 1890, and he assumed the license. Then Frank died at age 43 in August 1898, and the restaurant and liquor license are thereafter run by Fred Voelker. Anna went on to marry John George Oesterle, who died in December 1918 at the age of 30. In 1922 an Anna Oesterle, I'm not sure if it is the same one, marries Joseph F. Kaiser Jr. I do not know what became of Kaiser, but in 1924 Anna Stein/Oesterle appears to marry again, this time to Walter Zehfuss. Anna herself passes away in Dec 1925 at the age of 80.

Morcilla, Pittsburgh, PA 

Meanwhile, Fred Voelker passed away in 1906, and the liquor license is transferred to his surviving wife Annie. By March 1907 the liquor license has been assumed by Joseph Hearn. Hearn's license was challenged in 1909 when two detectives testified to seeing women drinking in the back room (another witness claimed the women were drinking pop), but he continues to run the place until at least 1917, with Benjamin Zwolski taking over by 1918. Zwolski was arrested in late 1919 (during statewide and wartime prohibition) for selling a quart of wine, and again raided Nov 1921 with a bottle of wine and quart of "moonshine whisky" confiscated.

Morcilla, Pittsburgh, PA

In 1924 Matthew Maglicich buys the saloon and raids continue, with police seizing 5 gallons of moonshine in March of 1926. Maglichich shortens his name to Maglich -- which over the few years he owns the bar will be spelled by the newspapers as Mack Maglich, Matt Maglick, Matt Maglis, Milton Nuylick, and Nattern Mazlicick. In 1928 the police raids are after not liquor but slot machines, and they seize one 5-cent and one 25-cent machine from Maglich. Maglich passes away in June 1931 (with one obituary listing his widow and children with a surname of "Maglicih."

By 1934 the space is named "Herman's Tavern," run by Herman Frankel, who came to Pittsburgh from Germany in 1902 and was a "restaurateur and hotelman here for nearly half a century" until he died Jan 25, 1940. In the early 40s the tavern is owned by Wanda Wacht, who owned a barber shop just down the street and made headline news by refusing the shakedown threatened by Mike Circelli and his "Master Barbers" Association, which threatened and demanded dues from city barber shops. Wacht's shop has a brick thrown through her front window and a stink bomb thrown in before her testimony. Also while Wacht ran the place, a truck (apparently unrelated to the Circelli affair) ran through the front wall of the bar.

In the late 40s the bar becomes Mac's Tavern, and then McGwire's Tavern until 1967. In that year Charles and Mary Jane Sullivan purchase the place and move their "Chuck's Bar" to this location, where it would remain at least into the 1980s. I have not yet tracked down what was happening in the space over the next couple decades, but in 2009 it becomes the Tamari Restaurant and Lounge, with an asian-latin fusion cuisine. Finally, in December 2015, multiple James Beard nominee chef Justin Severino and Hilary Prescott Severino opened Morcilla, eventually closing their highly regarded Cure up the street, providing a lovely setting to sample Spanish influenced tapas, a great charcuterie board, and delicious cocktails under large hanging legs of cured ham. (Bon Apetit called Severino "the most underrated chef in America" and said Morcilla "serves the best Spanish food I’ve had outside San Sebastián.")

Pittsburgh Press - June 12, 1946

3519 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 - (412) 652-9924
Est. Dec 2015
Previous bars in this location: Herman's Tavern, Mac's Tavern, McGuire's Tavern, Chuck's Bar, Tamari
Web site: morcillapittsburgh.com - facebook - instagram 
Articles ranked: pittsburghmagazine - davethegastronome - bykimberlykong - bonappetit - discovertheburgh - theinfatuation - cbsnews - yelp - tripadvisor 

#5586 - Alpine, Pittsburgh, PA - 2/23/2024

The Alpine, Beechview, Pittsburgh, PA

On this day I visited The Alpine, which seemed -- and I assume is -- a calm and cozy neighborhood joint in a quaint setting in Pittsburgh, which the bartender told me is "like Cheers," where everybody knows everybody and most customers have walked from their homes to the bar. The Alpine -- or "Alpine Tavern" as it has been mostly known -- goes back to at least the early 40s, although it started out in the North Side, on the corner of Federal and Alpine Avenue. Sometime between the mid 70s and mid 80s then owner Harry Parker moved it to its current location the Beechview neighborhood southeast of downtown, into a location that had previously hosted Stanley's Tavern for a couple decades.

The Alpine, Pittsburgh, PA

The place has considerable character even on this slow February afternoon, and I'd like to make it back on a Friday or Saturday night to experience that side of it. I like the place, but particularly after experiencing it in such a tranquil state, I was a bit stunned at the amount of turmoil I found throughout the history of the bar -- troubles that appear to have followed it from old location to new. Here are just the highlights I found with a fairly moderate amount of digging:

• By 1935 the original location hosted a confectionary store with a beer license; 
• In 1937 it was a corner grocery owned by widow Mary Catalano, who was fined for running numbers there; 

• In 1955, 19yo Benjamin Umphey was shot in the foot by police after being caught burglarizing what would turn out to be $15.35 in coins stolen from cigarette machine in the bar, and then failing to stop when commanded police; 
• In 1956, 3 men rob bartender at gunpoint; 
• In 1996, Derek Pitts of Swissvale, the son of former Wilkinsburg Mayor Bob Pitts, was shot and killed outside the Alpine Tavern in June. 
• In 1997, another man, Ronald Minniefield, 24, was found in a shed behind the bar in December. He bled to death after being shot in the neck. 
• In 2001, 7 people were injured when Chris Smith crashed his SUV into the tavern after being shot by someone in the back seat; 
• In 2002, 2 women were shot in the feet as they were exiting the bar; 
• In March 2003 a bartender pleads guilty to cocaine possession and distribution; 

• On May 14, 2003, noting 2 homicides, 11 assaults and 22 drug arrests in last 7 years, the Allegheny County DA office announces a deal to close the tavern, and inform the press "This establishment will never be a bar again."
• In 2006, owner Rupert Aumer acknowledged he had been drafted into the German army in WWII but insisted he never belonged to the Nazi party, as was alleged, and for which Rupert sued the claimant

Even for a stretch of almost a hundred years, that seems like A LOT, no? But this just reminds me that I really need to get around to visiting on a weekend evening, to see if the vibe of the bar and location at such times comports with the friendly, easygoing joint I experienced in my visit, or if it gives some hints that gunplay and wall smashing SUVs could break out at any moment?

1544 Beechview Ave A, Pittsburgh, PA 15216 - (412) 561-2950
Previous bars in this location: Stanley's Tavern
Web site: Facebook - Facebook Events 
Reviews: link - link - link

#6054 - Lou's Little Corner Bar, Pittsburgh, PA - 1/25/2025

Lou's Little Corner Bar, Pittsburgh, PA 

I don't know how long there has been a bar in this location, but it has been at least since the 1930s and there are hints it may go back to the 1890s.

Louis Lardo established Lou's in 1985. It was O'Neil's Bar in the 1960s, Sutony's Bar in the late 40s and the 50s, and the Anchor Inn from at least 1937 into the early 1940s.

In November of 1991, Lardo was charged with two accounts of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, after he tracked down to black 15-year-olds who stole his car from in front of the bar, and shot them as they fled from him.

Lou's Little Corner Bar, Pittsburgh, PA 

The building attached to the bar has offered rooms to let for well over a hundred years.

4924 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 - (412) 682-9723
Est. March 18, 1985
Previous bars in this location: Anchor Inn, Sutony's Bar, O'Neil's Bar
Web site: facebook - instagram  
Reviews: thegreatpittsburghpubcrawl - yelp - reddit 

#6009 - Medieval Tavern U Krále Brabantského, Prague, Czech Republic - 12/10/2024

Medieval Tavern U Krale Brabantskeho
Prague, Czech Republic

In the city of Prague there are many great bars in cellar and cave-like spaces of the old buildings, including multiple bars that provide a "medieval" experience, often with shows. But the "original" of these is Medieval Tavern "U Krále Brabantského," or "King of Brabant," said to have been established in 1375, in the shadow of Prague Castle. From the website: 

'From 1375, when the tavern was first opened, kings and smugglers used to come here. It is said that Czech kings used secret passages from the castle to get into the tavern and get drunk to forget their problems about Czech lands. Magister Kelly and Arcimboldo, Jaroslav Hašek and Karel Čapek, Mozart and Ondřej Soukup all used to drink here.

It is said that genius W.A. Mozart wanted to compose „Velkou Ranní" during his last visit in Prague. However from unknown reasons he ended up with „Malá Noční“.

At the end of the 18th century, the owner of our tavern was some "regimentstambor" called Krügler - famous showman. He could whistle and use a wooden spoon like he was playing the drums. Or he was just telling stories to his guests.'

 

Third Eye Traveller adds:

"The name comes from Duke John I of Brabant also known as Gambrinus who is the patron saint of brewers.

There are legends that the kings of Bohemia like Wenceslas IV and Rudolf II used to come to drink here in secret with smugglers and thieves.

Famous Czech figures would also haunt these halls like Italian painter Arcimboldo and the Czech writers Jaroslav Hašek and Karel Čapek."

The shows are not for me, so I made my way in the early afternoon, for the decor, atmosphere and some traditional Czech cuisine. The sources for the founding date and descriptions came from commercial sites and traveling sites, and I wish I'd come upon some more well founded and detailed descriptions of the history of the place from someplace like historic scholars or a university. But the decor and vibe definitely live up to the reputation, and show or no show, it would be among my highest recommendations for any visitor to Prague. 

 

Thunovská 198/15, 118 00 Malá Strana, Czechia +420 602 524 725
Est. 1375 - Building constructed: 1375
Previous bars in this location: None known 
Web site: krcmabrabant.cz - facebook - instagram 
Reviews: thirdeyetraveller.com - hikeandhostelch - yelp - tripadvisor - instagram (open group) - pragueexperience.com - prague-guide.co.uk - prague.eu 

#5881 - Log Cabin Tavern, Des Plaines, IL - 9/7/2024

I haven't found much information about the Log Cabin Tavern, in Des Plaines, Illinois, some 5 miles northeast of O'Hare Airport. It is said to have been built in 1934 by Vincent "Charlie" Crement, opening as "Crement's Beer Garden," renamed "Crement's Log Cabin" in 1938, and then "Log Cabin Inn" in 1946. I've found no web site for the place, and the Facebook page is unclaimed. But when you actually come upon it, the old cabin and adjoining patio are quite remarkable.

The inside and especially the outside are crammed full of antiques, odd crafts, and random collections; a row of antique wood pulleys hangs over a set of old milk cans, a collection of meat grinders, nautical items, taxidermy and a koi pond, elaborately crafted birdhouses and framed music albums, tables crafted from tree trunks, sewing machines, a pot bellied stove, and old sewing machines, unfolding in waves as you seem to wander from room to room even on the patio.

More of an old neighborhood joint than a dive bar, the staff and many of the regulars are Polish. The kitchen offers a fairly simple menu, a mix of old-time bar food (e.g. burgers, soups) and Polish specialties such as zapiekanka, pyzy, bigos and pierogis. The beer menu is also relatively simple, with just 3 or 4 on tap, and 20 or so additional choices in bottles, but also including Polish options like Tyskie and Żywiec. 

I would probably hang out quite often if I lived anywhere near.

 

346 Potter Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60016 - (847) 299-1811
Est. 1934 - Building constructed: 1934 
Previous bars in this location: Crement's Beer Garden, Crement's Log Cabin 
Reviews: patch - yelp - tripadvisor - roadtrippers 

#5877 - Old Tavern Inn, Niles, MI - 9/6/2024

Old Tavern Inn, Niles, MI 

Founded in 1836, the Old Tavern Inn has been recognized by the State of Michigan as being the oldest business in Michigan still operating in its original building. It is not clear to me on what basis it rules out the New Hudson Inn (which claims to have been founded in 1831), nor is it clear to me exactly when it changed its name to "Old Tavern Inn" after operating for many decades as the Sumnerville Tavern. Nevertheless, its own claim to its purported history is unusually strong, as documented by a loose bound book in the establishment itself, full of photos and a brilliantly researched list of owners and transactions over the years.

The book, was assembled by Barbara Cook and her husband Grafton "Grif" Cook, and its a gold mine to people like me who are curious about the history of the place, which locals refer to as "OTI's." As per their book:

"The Sumnerville Tavern is one of the most historic and insteresting buildings in Cass County and was apparently the first building constructed in the newly formed village [Sumnerville, platted in 1836]. For over twenty years it was located on the stage coach route connecting Kalamazoo and Niles."

Ida and Fred Freeman, who ran the business from the mid 1920s to mid 40s, re-oriented and expanded the building, adding a pool table and gas pumps out front of the tavern. But with vehicles (including a hearse carrying a body) failing to negotiate the 90 degree turn and crashing into the pumps, the Freemans eventually built a new concrete basement and foundation, and turned the building itself 90 degrees. "The building which for 80 years faced west was turned to face south. What had been the side of the building, facing north, now faced, as it still does the Indian Lake road. A large porch over the new front was built as well as tow large windows on each side of the new entrance."

The tavern, family restaurant, and former grocery and gas station had changed names to the Old Tavern Inn by the mid 1970s, and it remains plainly a popular place -- quite packed with local families on the Friday afternoon I stopped by, as efficient and friendly servers whizzed to and fro. It is known particularly for its ham sandwich, which unfortunately I was not in a position to sample on this day.

But at least I am glad that they no longer greet first time visitors in quite they way they are said to have done when founder Peabody Cook still owned the joint. The Cooks quote Abner Moon, a newspaperman from nearby Dowagiac, with the following account:

"It was said of Cook's regime that it was a pastime with its sitters about the place to 'initiate' those who came to the house. The candidate would be surrounded and taken down upon the floor where he was held pinioned by wlling hands whilst whiskey was rubbed on his head and then a hot brick was applied while the candidate struggled and yelled 'Ouch!' when the hot brick was applied and the house rang with the laughter and glee of the merry roysters."

 

#5915 - Bay Horse Cafe, Cincinnati, OH - 9/12/2024

Bay Horse Cafe, Cincinnati, OH

While it has been closed and threatened many times over the years, the Bay Horse Cafe traces its history back to 1962 in its current location, back to 1879 under its current name (across multiple locations), and purportedly back to 1817 as a business. Cincinnati Magazine provides this overview:

Bay Horse stakeholders trace the bar’s roots back to 1817, a Water Street location that suffered frequent flooding. It moved a few times, landing on Fifth Street where, in 1878, it picked up its name after a horse broke free of its pen across the street and wandered into the cozy interior.... the drinkery moved to its current location at 625 Main Street in 1968 [sic] when the federal building forced relocation. By 2004, the business had fallen on hard times and, after a shooting occurred outside its front window, the city declined renewal of its liquor license. For a while, the building faced threat of demolition.

Then, in 2017, a local entrepreneur and real estate investor named Fred Berger bought the building and, alongside his partner, Lori Meeker, renovated the bar, returning it to its glory days. The reopened Bay Horse Cafe quickly became a beloved local fixture until the tragic death of Meeker [in May 2022] led to yet another closure. A “For Rent” sign eventually appeared in the front window.

A longtime local bartender, Kyle Smith had been looking for a place to call his own for more than a year when he heard the Bay Horse was for rent. He called the number, and Berger answered. The two instantly hit it off. "He said, ‘You can’t change anything,’” Smith recalls. “’The sign has to stay on the front. I don’t want you to change the name.’ I said, ‘Fred, you don’t have to worry about a thing.’”

(cincinnatimagazine)

The 1817 date is very far from certain, and we know from primary sources that the move to the current location was in 1962 rather than 1968, but in any case we know that the business is very old. I first discovered it when it was still closed due to the death of Meeker, so I was delighted to be able to go not too long after it re-opened in early April 2024. It was Meeker and her partner Berger who were most critical to its survival and current form, for it was they who rescued when it had been closed for 12 years and slated for demolition in 2016. Not only did they revive the business, but they rescued it from a troublesome clientele, and restored much of its former glory, exposing the old tin ceilings and tile floors, and restoring the great early mid-century neon sign.

"The Bay Horse became to be known as a neighborhood trouble spot. In 2005 it was closed after it was found that it was operating without a liquor license and also after a shooting occurred during the day right outside its door. After the its closing, Quikstaff operated an employment firm for a short time but it appears the building has been vacant for some time. It had been for sale but now the owner has applied for a demolition permit that has to be reviewed by the Historic Conservation Board."  (diggingcincinnati)

Much of the bar's history is documented on the walls of the bar itself, e.g. a Jan 15, 1936 article from the Cincinnati Post which notes:

"The Bay Horse was originally opened by William Brothers, who was proprietor until 1891. During the great panic of 1891 to 1896, the cafe was sold half a dozen times. Gus Schmleg worked for each of its owners. He acquired it, together with a partner, Ed Schott, who is now 76 and works for Mr. Schmleg, in 1896. The building housing the cafe was erected in 1829 by William Thoms. A sun dial bearing the name and date may be found on the building at the intersection of Main and Fifth streets."

Another article notes that customer Robert O'Hara, a clerk for Board of Elections in town, came in 1906 and had come in every working day since up to at least the publishing of the article in 1952.

Yet another notes that Bill Marck took over in 1938, and we know that he still ran it when it was forced to move again and merged into the Grand Cafe, then at its current location. It is likely that it was at this point that the bar finally allowed women customers, as we know that it had not previously, but the Grand Cafe had.

So cheers to owner Kyle Smith and the entire string of owners known and unknown who kept this wonderful old place alive. The Queen City today has a rich selection of bars again, from craft cocktail emporiums to great old dives, but I'll try and make my way to the Bay Horse at least once whenever I visit.

625 Main St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 - (513) 975-0335
Est. 1962 (current location), 1879 previous location - Building constructed: 1829 
Previous bars in this location: Grand Cafe 
Web site: facebook 
Articles Ranked: cincinnatimagazine - cincinnati.com - diggingcincinnati - savingplaces.org - ronnysalerno - diggingcincinnati 2 - thegnarlygnome - cincinnatibites - citybeat - citybeat 2 - 5chw4r7z - local12 - yelp -